Taming A Goddess
by DrkVrtx
Summary: After the war, Pittoo pledges himself into Viridi's service to repay a debt he believes he owes. All is well and good until the day Phosphora returns from Skyworld with the news that his brother can now fly. Tension mounts as Pittoo demands Viridi let him visit the Underworld to use the Rewind Spring. But she will not let him go. Companion story to Flight Of The Angel.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting amongst the rich green leaves, Phosphora rested her back against the thick, rugged trunk of an age old tree. The crooked bough upon which she dwelt extended far beyond her bared legs and the small, slender nubs of her toes, its bark a familiar skin against her own. In her hands she held a book she had grown quite fond of since it had fallen into her possession; it was one meant for young human children, depicting a thousand small tales. Each small sheet of parchment bore a multitude of words and a single image to accompany them, drawn by an unhurried and creative hand. Both the words and the pictures vied constantly for her attention, and she had lost many hours to the numerous fantasies an unknown author's hand spun for her pleasure.

Today was such a one where she had little intention to do anything but indulge herself in the many and now largely familiar stories. Between her commitments as the commander of the Forces of Nature and visiting Skyworld to see and spend time with Pit, she left little for simply herself. This was, in a way, her escape.

Coordinating the vast army whose troops dwelt not only in the Goddess Viridi's aerial fortress but also upon Overworld was often difficult and draining work, and though it sometimes made her feel a little guilty for thinking so, spending time with Pit could also sometimes be fatiguing in its own right. The angel possessed a boundless energy that she just could not keep up with at times. And so when she found the time, she retreated to the treetops and enveloped herself in their peace. Sometimes she would read; often she simply slept, and at other times she liked to watch the clouds pass by in their slow and languid way. And sometimes –

"I've told you more than once, Pittoo".

"What harm is there in it? No one is getting hurt".

"Are you deaf, or just stupid? I'm not soft like Palutena. When I say 'no', I mean it".

"So I'm supposed to just lounge around here all day? Perhaps stare at the clouds for countless hours?"

"Did I force you to come here? You came by your own choice".

"Then how about I just go? Here's an idea: you give me the Power of Flight, and I leave you to your misery".

"_My _misery? No, I have a better idea. I _don't _give you the Power of Flight and instead throw you off the nearest platform".

"How generous of you, Viridi".

"And I've told you about _that_ before too! You and I aren't familiars; we aren't _equal_. Don't you dare call me by my name, Pittoo".

"Fine", Phosphora heard the angel respond in a tone dripping with annoyance as the feuding pair passed beneath her. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn, _Your Royal Highness_".

Phosphora pressed a hand to her mouth and stifled her laughter. She practically heard the Goddess grind her teeth as she growled deep in her throat.

Sometimes, the peace of the treetops was interrupted by the seemingly ceaseless bickering between Viridi and Pittoo. Phosphora knew few moments where she saw the pair together and they were not exchanging heated words.

It had surprised her greatly when the angel had asked Viridi if he could return to the Overworld along with them, rather than join Pit and Palutena in Skyworld. To her, the latter seemed like the obvious course of action and Pittoo's request had thus stunned both herself and Viridi into silence. She had been expecting the Goddess to refuse him but was instead served another healthy helping of surprise when she allowed him to come with them. The reasoning for both of their actions had eluded her for a time, and it was not until Pittoo had settled in upon Viridi's aerial fortress that Phosphora's attuned eye and ear allowed her to begin to understand what was at work.

"Phosphora! Get down here!"

She groaned inwardly as she heard the Goddess' call, covering her face with the book as she slumped in resignation against the tree trunk. She knew that she couldn't hide herself away from Viridi's eyes for too long; her aerial fortress resembled a vast forest seemingly uprooted from Overworld itself, and thus the Goddess knew it better than Phosphora ever would, familiar with every facet of its existence. With her argument with Pittoo apparently ended, Phosphora knew Viridi was about to vent some of her anger and frustration with him by loading her with work. Reluctantly, she snapped her book shut, swung her legs out over the edge of the bough she'd been sitting on and dropped gracefully to the ground below.

* * *

Pittoo regarded the passing clouds in silence as he lay back against the thick, wizened root of a tree, his hands serving as a rest for the back of his head. A soft wind, ever present so it seemed, stirred the hem of his black chiton and the strands of dark hair that fell across his brow. The dull red of his eyes wore a gaze of sharp intensity, as though he scrutinized the faults of each cloud that brought itself into his line of sight. That was not necessarily so, however; Pittoo always wore a look that was dwelling on the verge of severity. His mouth rarely curved with innocence into a smile, his lips more attuned with the motions required to produce a sneer or snarl. Pittoo knew few occasions where he would call himself 'happy'; instead, he knew what it was to be simply satisfied with the way of things, content with the manner of his existence.

The look on his face now was one of concentration; he had been trying to empty his mind, to rid himself of pestering thoughts that constantly drove him to wonder how he perceived his current circumstance. It was a foolish act, he realised, for to rid himself of such thoughts he had to focus upon them, and so inevitably he found himself doing exactly what he had intended to avoid.

Several months had passed since his brother had defeated Hades and brought about an end to the war with the Underworld. Upon its end, he had found himself faced with a choice; to make Skyworld his home, or to go his own way. It was a simple enough choice to make; Pittoo had endured enough of Pit's antics and mannerisms to last him a lifetime, and he felt no particular loyalty to his brother's Goddess. However, he no longer had his wings; Pandora had merely gifted him with the illusion that he had taken possession of her power, using him as a tool to further her own intentions and ultimately regain her physical form. His ability to go his own way as he was wont to do was severely hampered. To a point.

After Viridi had given him her own Power of Flight on several occasions and allowed him to borrow the Lightning Chariot from Phosphora's care in order to save Palutena and his brother, he felt that he owed the Goddess a debt. He had asked her if she would allow him to work in her employ for a time in order to pay it off, inwardly admitting that were he in possession of his wings, no such request would have come from his lips. She had been expectedly surprised, expectedly wary, and then expectedly triumphant about it. He had rolled his eyes to the point of pain as she remarked that he was barely worthy to offer her his service, but that she had of course been expecting him to offer it to repay her good deeds.

Days and weeks had passed and he knew that he had long since repaid the Goddess her deeds. When she called on him, he worked diligently – better than she had ever expected of him. She had not formally released him from the spoken contract between them, but of course there was just the small problem of him not having the means to take his leave. He had long since convinced himself that that was the reason he had stayed long beyond his unspoken term; he could have easily asked Viridi for access to transportation, but wished to rely on none other than himself. His nature simply demanded it. And so he remained, with each day growing less content; with each day hearing the voice of freedom softly mocking his predicament.

"Pittoo", the voice of Viridi called out to him.

He turned his eyes from the clouds to the tall portal that led into the innards of the aerial fortress. "Yeah?"

The Goddess emerged into the dull light of a day turning to dusk, her young, honey coloured eyes finding his. Her mouth was pressed thin and her brow wrinkling with the beginnings of a frown, but there still existed a hint of softness to her expression.

"I need you to do a favour for me", she told him as she drew close. "Phosphora's tied up at the moment".

Pittoo looked back to the clouds as she cast her shadow over him and shrugged. The Goddess took it for his acquiescence; she had grown familiar with his mannerisms.

"There's a unit of Blader unaccounted for on Overworld, and I need you to find out where they've disappeared to".

Pittoo sighed and arched his back, stretching until he heard and felt his spine pop satisfyingly. "Alright", he told her. "It's probably nothing more than them forgetting to check in with Phosphora at the allotted time".

"They aren't the brightest bunch, no", Viridi allowed.

Pittoo rose to his feet and glanced across at her, seeing her lips twitch with a smirk to accompany her remark. His own curved to match, if only for a moment.

"Well then", he said as he approached the edge of the platform, the Goddess walking at his shoulder, "let's get going".

He turned back to her when she did not immediately grant him the Power of Flight, finding her watching him with the light of expectancy sparkling beneath the surface of her gaze. He arched his brow.

"I am _not_ my brother", he told her firmly. "If you think I'm going to do a song and dance for you just to give me wings, you can forget about it".

"Hmph", she said, turning her nose up at him and folding her arms. "I should make you grovel before I give you my Power".

"Right", he said tonelessly. "Perhaps another time".

And with that, he launched himself off the platform.

Viridi yelped in surprise, starting forwards with an arm outstretched as she hurriedly gave him the Power of Flight. His typical cackle floated through the air as she yelled violent promises at his diminishing form, black wings trailing light through the darkening sky. She of course never lost sight of him, watching over him fervently as he went to do her bidding. Their heated argument of but a few short hours prior was long forgotten, another tale lost to the winds.


	2. Chapter 2

Pittoo aimed his bow and planted the final arrow directly into the skull of the Keron as it lumbered between the corpses of its brethren towards him. Confirming that all of the creatures were dead, Pittoo rolled his shoulders, exhaling as the vestiges of his surge of adrenaline faded away. He lowered his bow, though his grip upon it remained firm and ready as he turned his eyes towards the mangled forms of the Blader. He frowned as he considered them.

Their having been unaccounted for had not turned out to be due to the relatively simple reason Pittoo had assumed. Instead, as Viridi had guided his path of flight low, he had seen the last remaining members of the unit fighting a losing battle with a decidedly larger group of Underworld foes. From what his eyes could tell, they had been intercepted en route to their appointed post, hence why Viridi had eventually noticed their absence. He had arrived too late to save any one of them, and the Underworld's cocktail of Keron, Monoeye and Specknose had turned upon him the moment he landed. A mistake.

Pittoo was a formidable opponent, though he liked to credit himself for his skill rather than acknowledging its most likely origin. One thing he could say for certain was that his skill with a bow and arrow far surpassed his brother's, and it was thus his choice weapon in combat. The corpses that lay at his feet were but a testament to that fact.

The Underworld's presence on Overworld did not come as much of a shock for him or Viridi, who had overseen the battle and served where his own line of sight could not. Hades had indeed been defeated and the main host of his army along with him, but there still remained stragglers upon the world of Man, vestiges of the Underworld with no way to return to their realm. They hid themselves in the shadows and their simplistic nature led them to desire only to continue to wreak havoc where they could. This day had been an unfortunate one for this particular group of Blader, but in the grand scheme of things, Viridi was one step closer to cleaning up her realm of the Underworld's influence.

These were for the most part the missions she sent him on, and it served both of them well enough. Pittoo had inherited his brother's impatience, though apparently to a more severe degree; he hated remaining idle and often sought ways to occupy his time. Viridi did not wish to send out her army to track down and destroy the remnants of the Underworld; Phosphora would have been the next logical step had she not occupied the responsibilities she did. Pittoo's pledging of his services to her thus turned out to be quite the convenient affair – and with impeccable timing, for not a few days after he had settled on her aerial fortress did the Underworld's stubborn presence on Overworld become known to her.

"Well, that was easy", the angel sighed with disappointment. "I almost wish there were more of them".

"I can see you inherited your brother's modesty", Viridi intoned dryly.

"The less I take after Pit, the better", Pittoo said.

"Oh, I don't know", the Goddess said. "I think Palutena has it good, what with Pit being her personal choir and singing her praises every chance he gets. You should follow his example".

Pittoo produced a wide yawn. "Not happening, Viridi".

"Pittoo, I swear one of these days – "

Fire suddenly arched down the angel's back, drawing a ragged shout from his lips. He dropped to his knees as a white-hot knife sank between his shoulders.

"Pittoo! _Pittoo!"_

"I'm…I'm fine", the angel growled, forcing the words past his teeth as his lips twisted into a snarl. He fought back the pain with the strength of his will, already beginning to feel it dissipate. As quickly as it came, it faded, and soon enough he was able to pull himself back up to his feet. The skin along his back prickled uncomfortably as with a frown, he lifted his face to the sky. He thought he had heard something.

"Pittoo. Hey! I'm talking to you".

He shook his head as though to clear it. "Sorry. What?"

"That's what I'm asking you. What was that about?"

Pittoo rolled his shoulders slowly, almost experimentally. "I don't know. Maybe one of those Keron got me and I didn't realise it".

"They didn't", Viridi told him. "Nothing hit you, Pittoo. I think you're a bit too good for the Hades' spawn. It's almost unfair, really".

The angel raised his brow, and even before he began to speak he could hear the Goddess groaning. "What was that, Viridi, a compliment?"

"I'm begrudgingly acknowledging your worth, meagre as it is", she replied with clear reluctance.

Pittoo snorted his laughter and gave a deep bow as his wings flared to life with Viridi's power. "I only aim to please, oh high and mighty one".

"Shut up, before I clip your feathers", the Goddess grumbled.

His lips curved into a grin that preluded yet another retort, but before he could speak he felt a sudden rush of giddiness that most certainly did not belong to him flood through his body. It was such a pure and powerful sensation that for one wild moment he thought it would lift him into the air all on its own. He heard the distant echoes of wild laughter in his mind, a voice that definitely didn't belong to the Goddess. In fact, he thought he recognised it. And then just as Viridi lifted him skyward –

"_Yahoo…!"_

Utterly perplexed, Pittoo turned his eyes high to the clouds drawn across the dark sky. He swore he had just heard his brother belt out the cheer.

* * *

Pittoo rolled his shoulders, hissing as momentary pain flashed along his back. He tilted his head to either side, stretching the muscles of his neck until he heard bones crack with satisfactory volume. Refocusing himself as the pain faded, Pittoo found his line of sight once more, drawing back the arrow until his fingers settled alongside his chin, his elbow cocked into the air parallel to the line of his shoulders. He held it there for a moment longer, making final, miniscule adjustments as he gazed unblinkingly ahead. And then he let it fly.

Silver-white light streaked through the air, covering the distance between Pittoo and his target in the blink of eye and spearing into the thick trunk of the courtyard's proudest tree. He let the bow fall and appraised his shot.

With the use of resins, he had drawn several concentric circles upon the trunk, the white lines hard and, despite his efforts, uneven in places. Nevertheless, they served their purpose. His shot had travelled further left than he had intended, settling into the third of seven circles; he had of course been aiming for the centre. He gave a small snarl as pain flashed between his shoulder blades once more, setting his fingers to the bow and drawing the string once more. His will birthed an arrow of light at his fingertips and he took aim once more.

It had been three days since the pain had knocked him to his knees and he had heard – or at least thought to have heard – the jubilant shout of his brother. Since then, the skin of his back seemed to prickle persistently, and the stubs of his wings would flutter without his intention as though trying to break free of something. Along with the pain that flashed through him with a pattern he had yet to grow accustomed to, Pittoo's mood had remained irritable over the past few days – more so than usual, which was saying something. That wouldn't help him right now, in fact, he had come here to quiet his mind. The arrow already embedded into the tree trunk shimmered as he took aim and slowed his breathing.

_Thwock_

Pittoo huffed and let the Silver Bow fall to his side, lifting a hand to his face and massaging his temples with annoyance. Periodically, he could hear the echo of his brother's voice shouting with indescribable joy within his skull and feared that some kind of telepathic connection was developing between them. He didn't know if he was ready to endure such a thing. The words he could make out where few and far between, and without context Pittoo had no idea what his brother appeared to be excitedly yelling about. All he wished for, frankly, was for Pit to shut up and stay that way. That was precisely one of the reasons he was not fond of the idea of making Skyworld his home.

His thumb and finger pressed into the sides of his head as he hissed once more, now familiar pain flashing through him. His wings fluttered with a sense of urgency, desperate to be free. Why that particular thought kept occurring to him he did not consciously know, but there was some part of him that continued the struggle to figure out what was happening even when he had long since given up such trains of thought. He lifted his head and glanced at his most recent shot, with a sigh lifting his bow once more to the ready.

"So this is one of your hiding places".

Pittoo took a moment before he turned to source of the voice, sighing with a hint of exasperation. Viridi stood beneath the archway that led into the courtyard, leaning against the grey stone with her arms folded and a smirk upon her lips. He had searched the fortress methodically upon his arrival, finding rooms tucked away into unsuspecting corners, conveniently – for him – hidden behind lush groves or at the end of long, twisting corridors. He had memorised the locations of all that he had come across, as they would no doubt come in handy when his patience would not serve to allow him to endure any company – which just so happened to be quite a common affair. Lately, however, he was running out of secluded places to retreat; Viridi would eventually track him down, and though it irked him he could not be too surprised. This was, after all, her fortress.

The Goddess pushed herself off the wall and strode into the courtyard, her mere presence within it stirring its natural inhabitants to life. Pittoo had grown used to seeing the crowns of trees shimmer when in her vicinity, flowers tilting towards her as she passed by and blossoming anew. As she approached him, he saw her eyes shift to tree he had marked and used for target practice. He braced himself for her rebuke – he supposed he was doing harm to nature – but to his surprise found that it did not come. Instead, she came within several paces of him and seemed to appraise his arrow. It had landed in the fourth circle. She looked across at him, a hand settling comfortably at her hip.

"That's a terrible shot".

Pittoo pressed his mouth thin, fuming at her comment. "Clearly you could do better".

"I could, actually", she said without pause.

Pittoo glanced at her and snorted as he stood straight once more and rolled his shoulders. "You're a Goddess", he said. "You deal in throwing lightning bolts, not shooting arrows".

"Ha ha", Viridi replied in a dry tone. "Give me the bow; I'll show you".

She held a hand out expectantly and he merely turned and looked down at the outstretched limb for a long moment. They were of a roughly equal height, Pittoo perhaps just an inch or two the taller. He had always found it strangely interesting that he could meet the eyes of a being much greater than him without having to lift his gaze high. He met her bright, brown eyes now, sure that she would read the utter scepticism he was currently feeling. Nevertheless, to humour her, he relaxed his posture and handed his bow over. She snatched it from his grasp with triumph in her eyes as though expecting him to withdraw it at the last moment.

"Watch and learn", she told him, wrapping her fingers around the body of the bow.

Pittoo folded his arms and took a step back, partly to give the Goddess space and partly for the sake of caution. He was expecting a mishap of some kind. He watched as she adjusted her grip on the bow several times, muttering in apparent dissatisfaction. Pittoo could only smirk as she realised that there wasn't any arrows on hand for her to use; she half turned to him as she pulled the bowstring experimentally.

"Where are the arrows?" she asked.

"In your mind", he answered with a mystic air.

"What?"

"This bow doesn't use conventional arrows", he explained briefly. "You just have to visualise it in your head and the bow will respond. Fairly simple".

It took her several tries and he only smiled unhelpfully when she glared at him in annoyance, finally managing to produce a projectile of golden-white light. It was clear that she was uncomfortable with the nature of the arrow as she nocked it and drew the string, but he was surprised to see the form that she held as she did so, displaying a clear confidence as she lifted the bow to the ready and took aim. She pulled the string much further backwards than necessary however, upsetting the line of her shoulders as her hand retreated past her cheek. A moment later, she released the arrow and light flashed through the air. Pittoo raised his eyebrow when it hit the tree.

Viridi turned to him, a grin curving her lips. "You were saying?"

Pittoo lowered his brow and shrugged with indifference. "Beginner's luck".

Viridi's lips fell open in surprised laughter. "Beginner's luck?" she repeated. "Open your eyes, Pittoo. My shot puts yours to shame".

Indeed it had. Pittoo's arrow stood in its lonely corner of the fourth circle whereas the Goddess had managed to score within the second, her arrow almost close enough to tease the perimeter of the first. The angel wasn't fazed however; he took the bow back from her and in a smooth, fluid motion nocked and drew another arrow, pausing only for a moment to line up his sight.

_Thwock_

"Beat that", he challenged Viridi, handing the bow back to her.

She promptly snatched it from him. "With pleasure".

It became quickly evident however, that she wasn't going to be able land another shot as close to the centre of the makeshift target board as her first had come. With increasingly vocalised frustration, Viridi's arrows began to pepper the third, fourth and fifth ring of the series of circles. Pittoo's expression grew smug with each of her attempts. She was holding the bow far too tightly, nocking her arrows too high and drawing the string too far backwards, on the whole disrupting the finely tuned balance of the tool. Pittoo gave an exaggerated yawn as her seventh shot again flew wide of the mark. The Goddess dropped her arm and glared at the bow with violent intentions written upon her eyes.

"What is this thing?" she demanded, brandishing the bow at him. "How on earth do you manage to use it? The balance is terrible".

Pittoo merely broke into laughter at Viridi's outburst. "I told you, Viridi. Beginner's luck".

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Here", she said as she tossed the weapon back to him, "I'll show you a real bow".

The ground trembled beneath his feet as he caught the Silver Bow and he looked on to see the tiles near to the Goddess' feet split by an unseen force. From dark depths of stone rose the closed bulb of a large, burgundy flower, its petals shimmering with a sheen of moisture as they gently overlapped one another. Curious, Pittoo watched as Viridi stroked a hand along the curve of the bulb, the flower shivering a moment later before its petals began to carefully peel apart, spilling open to reveal that which lay within.

"I can't believe you made me summon this", Viridi said with a shake of her head. "We haven't been acquainted for _quite _some time".

Pittoo arched his brow at the way she spoke, but even before he could think to question it, the bulb finally blossomed in its fullness and he bore witness to a weapon of astounding craftsmanship. The Goddess carefully lifted the bow from its pseudo-pedestal, gripping it with a sure and familiar hand. He immediately noticed how comfortable her poise appeared as she held the bow, despite it almost being as tall as she was.

Viridi seemed to forget his existence as she inspected the bow, its even curve a notable contrast to the relatively straight and sharp lines of his own bow. Unlike his Silver Bow, this one was carved of wood – and he didn't spare a moment to question its quality. Along the edges of the bow's body were inlaid intricate patterns, an unending, artistic sprawl of golden leaves. Where the wood gave way to the bowstring itself, it curved upwards and slightly away from its user; the Goddess briefly moved her fingers to each end of the bow, expertly testing the condition of the string. Removing her eyes from it for a moment, she reached forwards into the open flower, retrieving this time a quiver of arrows. Accompanied with a belt of sorts, Viridi set the bow aside and secured the quiver around her waist, the arrows lying in comfortable reach at her left thigh. And then she lifted the bow.

In a swift and practised movement, Viridi drew and nocked an arrow, pulling the string back to her jaw and barely taking the time to aim before releasing it.

_THWOCK!_

Pittoo's eyes widened. The sound of the arrow hitting its target echoed through the courtyard, the green fletching at the back of the arrow quivering with the force of its impact. But that was not why he was surprised; Viridi had struck just outside the first circle – precisely on the spot where his arrow was. Or rather, precisely on the spot where his arrow _had been. _ He watched as silver-white light dissipated into the air, his arrow reduced to sparkling dust. He slowly turned his eyes to her; she was already looking at him.

"Beginner's luck?" she said, smirking. "Pssh. You don't know who I am, Pittoo".

He could only look on as she casually drew and nocked another arrow, noting absentmindedly that its green fletchings resembled leaves. Again spending seemingly no time at all to adjust and maintain her line of sight, she fired the arrow. The projectile quivered at the centre of the first circle.

"Alright", she said, lowering the bow and rolling her shoulders. "Had to work out a few kinks, but I'm good to go. How about we make this more interesting?" she said to him, casting a challenging glance in his direction.

He had no intention of refusing. "You're on".

The Goddess grinned at his response. "I'll give you fair warning; I was one of the best archers in the time of the old pantheon".

"That was then; this is now", Pittoo shrugged off her boast.

"Fighting talk, I like that", Viridi said. "Futile, but cute".

"Cute? Me? Right", Pittoo said, looking across at her with an arched brow and a wicked smirk. She read his meaning well enough, her eyes narrowing.

"Don't you even dare", she told him. "Well then, I'll just rearrange things a little…"

A minute or so later, Viridi had summoned up three separate targets, though unlike Pittoo's crude creation of his own these were each separate pieces of wood, spherical in design and anchored to the ground by a pair of wooden legs. The concentric circles upon them were marked by distinct, darkening hues of brown as one progressed towards the centre. She positioned the first target at fifty metres, the second at sixty and the last at seventy. Pittoo regarded the latter targets somewhat apprehensively; he rarely fired at such ranges. He favoured mid to short range combat, and a fight required a distinctly different style of shooting an arrow.

Viridi turned to him, gesturing towards the first and nearest target as she smiled sweetly. "Angels first".

* * *

Phosphora groaned aloud as her body ached, fatigue channelling through her and tempting her to collapse right where she stood and give in to the lure of sleep. That wouldn't be appropriate, however, at least not now that Pittoo had taken residence upon the fortress. Besides, her personal rooms were not too far away. Fighting the insistent bouts of utter laziness that threatened to sweep out her feet from underneath her, Phosphora pressed on.

After Pittoo had chanced upon the remnant group of Underworld creatures who had slain a unit of Blader, Viridi had instructed her to co-ordinate sweeps of the surrounding area in search for others. Phosphora had taken it upon herself to extend the range of the searches as they uncovered and dealt with two more groups, the latter of the two at least twice the size of the group Pittoo had come across. Suffice to say that her sleeping hours had been few and far between the past few days, but as the search discovered no other signs of the Underworld's presence, she decided to dial down the level of activity of the search parties, allowing herself some much needed rest.

Nearing her rooms, Phosphora's attention was drawn away from the singular thought to fall unconscious upon a wide, luxurious bed upon hearing two familiar voices floating along the corridor towards her. She of course knew them, but despite that she found it peculiar; the voices did not appear to be at war with each other. Intrigued, Phosphora turned away from her original path, instead following that which the voices laid before her and eventually coming upon a courtyard tucked away in the corners of the fortress. It was not a place unknown to her, but she had very little reason to come here regularly, if at all.

As she crept up to and pressed herself along the wall as it jutted forwards and melded with an archway, she heard the voices punctuated by the sounds of impacts. She dared to poke her head out, finally bearing witness to the rather remarkable scene. Pittoo and Viridi were somehow managing to peaceably exist in each other's vicinity.

Phosphora could hardly believe her ears, much less her eyes.

Both of them were wielding bows – something she had never seen or known Viridi to be able to do – and launching arrows at targets a considerable distance from where they stood. It appeared to be a contest, and Viridi appeared to be winning. In fact, it seemed that she was thoroughly thrashing the angel, for Phosphora could see a rather smug expression on the Goddess' face and arrows fletched with green jutting from the centre of each of the three targets. Looking to Pittoo, she saw a rather interesting expression upon his features.

As he and Viridi took their turns, he would cast a lingering glance at the Goddess, watching as she smoothly nocked and drew her arrow, sending it lancing through the air. His eyes were thoughtful, his mouth caught halfway between a smile and a frown. As for Viridi…well, Phosphora could only smile at how animated her Goddess had become. Her quips were accompanied by a playful tilt to her lips, and her retorts to his words as swift as her arrows. The banter between them brought a wide grin to Phosphora's lips as she listened in on them.

She pressed herself against the wall as she glimpsed the Goddess appearing to turn to glance over her shoulder; she hoped Viridi was too engaged in what she was doing to sense her presence. Sleep lulled her once again and a long, shuddering yawn accompanied its call. She planned to visit Skyworld on the morrow, so decided that it would be best for her to get some rest. She'd need her energy when spending time with Pit.

* * *

Pittoo watched her as she drew and nocked another arrow, keeping his gaze furtive. Her transformation from the irritated Goddess fumbling about with his Silver Bow to the perfectly calm and at ease Viridi nailing shot after shot into the innermost circle of the targets had all but intrigued him. And – he inwardly admitted – impressed him. She had yet to miss a single shot, even at the furthest range. Her arrows stood neatly side by side at the centre of the board, while his tended to occupy the second and third circles. He had landed two arrows at the centre of the target, and that was only at the fifty metre range. Suffice to say he had never seen anyone shoot like Viridi before.

Lifting the bow, she pulled the string back until her fingers nestled beside her jaw, and Pittoo watched her. There was something about the Goddess that appealed to him, something that drew his attention and pinned it beneath the weight of fascination.

It was not necessarily her appearance; Viridi did not possess the sheer, breath-taking beauty of Palutena or the attractive, youthful charm of Phosphora, attributes that Pittoo would readily acknowledge though they did not entice him. Viridi – whether by her own choice or simply the decision of a greater power – took the form of a child on the cusp of adolescence; she would never have the full figure of her fellow Goddess. He did find his eyes lingering upon her at times, however, usually when she strutted past him with her blonde hair bouncing in time to her stride. He wondered how long it would be when she did not have it fashioned into an elegant tail at the side of her head.

As she held the arrow nocked and drawn, sighting her target, Pittoo found her to be exhibiting that which inexplicably appealed to him. It was an air of complete confidence; perhaps it was one bordering often on arrogance, but Pittoo was certainly not one to judge on that front. The Goddess wore her pride for all to see, and so did he. She held her body with a sure poise, her weight centred at her core as she maintained the line of her shoulders. The bow was almost the length of her, but she controlled it. It dawned on him belatedly that she was holding the arrow drawn from much longer than necessary; her bright brown eyes shifted towards him.

"Pittoo, you're staring".

"Observing", the angel replied without skipping a beat.

"Observing", she repeated softly.

"Your technique", he said. "You need to show me how to shoot like that".

Viridi grinned. "What was that, Pittoo, a compliment?"

The angel rolled his eyes, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Alright, fine. Yes. You're better than I am. A little".

"Mm", she hummed, lowering the bow. She walked over and handed it to him. He took it and immediately gave a grunt of approval; the balance and weight of the bow felt good in his hands. He saw Viridi watching him in the corner of his vision, one hand settled on her hip as the other spun the arrow she had been preparing to shoot between her fingers.

"Ha", she laughed, reading his expression and apparently his thoughts too. "Your peasant's bow isn't looking so good now, is it?"

"_Peasant's _bow?" Pittoo said. "You do realise the Silver Bow is a precursor to Pit's Palutena Bow, crafted by Palutena herself".

Viridi shrugged. "Your point? Now this", she said, pointing the arrow at her bow, "_this_ is a real bow. You newbies have forgotten how to craft _real_ weapons. I'm sure Dyntos laughs at you poor fools daily".

Pittoo shook his head and sighed, lifting the bow to the ready and testing the string, curling three fingers around it and drawing it – or at least attempting to. The string was wound tighter than any other bow he had ever taken his hand to. Viridi's grin was wide when he turned to her, his eyes dipping to verify her form. She had drawn it with an apparent lack of effort.

She folded her arms as she held his eyes. "I know what you're thinking, Pittoo. If you value your life, you'll keep that one to yourself".

He took her advice, particularly after what he had just learned. He could barely get the string to budge, a fiery ache building at his shoulder as he strained his arm with all his might. She had drawn it as casually as he did his own bow.

As a Goddess, it was needless to say that Viridi was _powerful_, but he had never imagined her – particularly considering her form – to have possessed such _strength_.

Well, that at least explained why her arrows had appeared to hit the targets almost within the same moment she let them loose. Pittoo had no hope of using this bow, it was simply beyond him. It brought him no shame to admit such a thing either, in fact, as he turned to the Goddess to hand her back the bow, a new sense of fascination began to brew within him. No sooner did she take it from, however, did a crushing sense of pain also stir within him.

Pittoo cried out, his back arching with a phantom strike that sliced between his shoulders. He fell heavily to his knees as the stumps of his wings flared desperately, and then onto his hands as the knife sunk deeper, pulling against the resistance of his flesh.

"Pittoo!"

Pittoo fought the pain once more with the strength of his will, appearing to push it away for a brief moment. "I'm fi – _argh!"_

It struck again, ruthless and unforgiving. Pittoo buried his face in his arms as his entire form shuddered, flashes of a waking dream painted across his eyes. He saw wide, white wings surging forth from his back, momentary images distorted by a blur of confusion as the pain watered his gaze. He was only barely aware of Viridi's voice as she scrambled to his side, a hand massaging comforting circles upon his back as he trembled, for she knew not what else to do. The pain reached its crescendo, and Pittoo shook his head and bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming. He saw the wings spread, an angel taking flight with a sense of joy that thrummed through him and left him shaking with a laughter that was not his own.

Viridi spoke with concern as he slowly lifted his face. "Pittoo, are you alright?"

There were tracks of tears running down his cheeks, and he didn't know whether they were of pain or happiness. A happiness that was not his. He breathed heavily as the pain gradually subsided, lifting himself off the ground and feeling a deep rooted anger stirring within him, one that he couldn't explain. When Viridi moved to sweep her thumb along his cheek and erase his tears, she only served to compound that anger.

"I'm fine", he said shortly, turning his face away from her touch and finding his feet in a swift, rough motion. "Fine".

He walked away, his Silver Bow left behind as he left the courtyard with no intention but to be by himself. Viridi would know where he would eventually seclude himself, but choose not to intrude upon him. His eyes were narrowed as he walked; he was angry with himself for his display of weakness before the Goddess, angry with his brother for reasons he didn't know, and angry at the sense of foreboding slowly stealing over him, poisoning his peace of mind. The stumps of his wings fluttered as he stalked through the fortress.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this ended up being longer than I originally intended. I suppose writing Viridi/Dark Pit is turning out to be more interesting than I'd expected, didn't realise how well it works until I started writing this. Anyway, hope you all enjoy. Till next time *walks off into the mist*.**


	3. Chapter 3

Pittoo sat opposite the Goddess, the large round stump of a tree trunk positioned between them. Atop its smoothed, lacquered surface, Viridi was currently dismantling her bow, checking over and tuning the string as well as the main body of the tool. Pittoo, with his chin resting in the crook of his palm, watched her work. Apparently, their competition had inspired the Goddess to adopt the bow and arrow once more. She claimed to have performed rather poorly, by her standards at least. Pittoo could only wonder how she would shoot after she had brushed up on her supposedly lacklustre skill.

"What is that?" the angel asked quietly, the first words he had spoken to the Goddess since leaving her presence in a dark mood the day before. He had been somewhat surprised that she had not chased him down and demanded an explanation that he didn't know how to give. It surprised him once more when he had walked into the garden and taken his seat without uttering a word to her and she had simply allowed it, lifting her face momentarily from the bow and offering him a small smile. Now, she looked up at his question.

"Hmm? What's what?" she said, glancing down at the bow.

"No, not that", Pittoo said. He twisted his wrist and pointed with the hand at his chin, indicating the Goddess' right arm. "The ink".

"This?" she said, lifting her arm to give him a better view and shooting a questioning look in his direction. He nodded.

Lines of green and brown curved and spun intricate patterns along her skin, beginning at the small circumference of her wrist and flowing past her elbow, ultimately disappearing into the shadow of the short sleeve draped over her shoulder and a portion of her upper arm. Several hues of the two dominant colours seemed at the same time to both blur together and yet remain sharply distinct as the wandering lines wended their way upwards and forged an abstract and yet mesmerising pattern dappled with spots of gold and minute dashes of red. Pittoo had been curious about it ever since he had come to the fortress and been granted the chance to view it properly. The intention to ask had always dwelt within him, but was perhaps staved off by the fact that the majority of conversations he held with the Goddess swiftly turned to heated arguments.

"Is it a tattoo?"

Viridi mused on the question for a moment, twisting her mouth in thought. "I suppose you could call it that".

"Well, it is or it isn't, right?" Pittoo said.

Viridi shrugged. "I've had this since I first knew myself. No one gave it to me, at least not in the sense you're thinking of".

"Oh?" Pittoo said, intrigued. "Have you ever tried to remove it?"

"Heavens no", the Goddess replied, eyeing him as though his words had offended her. "I imagine that it is simply ink, but it might as well be my very skin".

Pittoo took a moment to trace its path with his eyes, pausing as he came to shimmering brown hem of her sleeve. "How far does it go?" he asked.

Viridi smirked then, a very particular curve tilting her lips as her sparkling eyes found his. "Wouldn't you like to know, huh?"

The angel's brow furrowed at her tone, understanding dawning on him a few moments later. It unexpectedly brought a wave of heat that warmed his face and turned his eyes aside.

"I didn't mean…"

"Touch it", Viridi interrupted him.

_What?_

"What?" the angel vocalised.

"Touch it", she told him again. "This ink is different from any other you've ever encountered, I can guarantee that. It'll be easier for you to understand if you experience it for yourself, rather than have me drone on and attempt to explain it".

Pittoo didn't think Viridi appreciated the gravity of what she was permitting him to do; he was beginning to think she was playing with him. The instances of physical interaction between them were rare, brief, always instigated by the Goddess and of course never reciprocated. He was powerfully aware of the difference in their stations, and despite how he argued with Viridi, he respected her position and authority. When he had collapsed to his knees the day before, clutched in the grip of agony, he had felt her hand against his back. He was too far consumed in the pain of the moment to think anything of it, but long afterwards when his sullen thoughts strayed, he remembered the Goddess' touch. It was a phantom that accompanied him into the land of dreams.

"Pittoo", Viridi said, drawing his attention. "Stop staring. Hurry up".

"Sorry", he muttered without thinking. He missed the Goddess arch her brow as he lowered his gaze to her arm. Setting down her bow, she had laid her arm upon the smooth plain of the tree stump, palm facing upwards. So bidden, he moved his hand forwards, his fingers meeting the dark green of her wrist. She was right; it would have taken her an age to properly communicate this sensation to him.

He didn't know whether to call that which his fingertips ghosted over skin or ink, but though he eventually resolved to think of it as her skin, it certainly did not feel like smooth flesh. Instead, Pittoo was given the impression that he was running his hand through stalks of grass. He paused as his mind came to this resolution and impressed it upon him, turning to look up at the Goddess with surprise shaping his features. She favoured him with a grin. "Go on".

And so he did. His fingers moved slowly upwards, following the line of green as it faded and turned to brown. He sat up as the new sensation met his digits; a soft, earthen depth that was inexplicable to his senses. It was as though he had pushed his fingers deep into the thick soil beneath the blades of grass, but of course that made no sense to him. He applied only the barest of pressures to Viridi's skin, his touch minimal at best. And yet…

He quickly lost himself, his body forgetting its place and his mind narrowing to focus on only that which transpired between his fingertips and Viridi's skin. His hand moved from the soft earth to once more meet with stalks of grass, fingers slowly tracing the loop of a thick line of green. His thumb ghosted along a dash of red, the head of a delicate rose bending beneath his curious touch. His fingers paused in their journey as he ran his thumb over the small, uneven line once and again, an ovular drop of ink narrowing to a thin, miniscule tail of scarlet that disappeared into a whirl of brown. The rose warmed to his touch, leaning into it as it offered to him its vivid crown.

He moved on eventually, leaving the fields of grass and flowers behind and rising high as soft transitioned to hard, the rough, bumpy bark of a proud tree gracing his senses. This dark brown line divided into several, between their slender paths existing darker, thinner lines of brown; Pittoo's fingers followed them as his mind's eye painted him a distinct picture. He walked through a forest, its floor crunching beneath his heel as he trailed his hand along the thick trunks of trees that had existed before him and would no doubt stand tall and proud after him. His fingers rose, meeting a thousand darts of lush green interspersed with several strong, supporting lines of a lighter brown tone. Leaves – and too many for him to count. Some were wide and short and others long, curved and thin, all of them sweeping through his digits as he traced their short lines. His fingers moved once more – and suddenly he felt skin.

"I said touch, not explore", the Goddess' voice cut through his reverie.

Pittoo opened his eyes from the waking dream, finding his fingers at Viridi's inner elbow, its journey halted by her hand over his. They were silent, both of them, as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't angry. Her cheeks were tinged pink with warmth, the direction of her gaze flitting as she looked away and back to him. The pressure of her hand over his was light, enough to simply stop his progress, but with his heightened sense of touch still engaged by the vestiges of his waking dream he was very aware of the warmth of her skin. He withdrew his hand a moment later, coughing to fill the awkward silence that threatened to swallow them. They were both immensely thankful for the appearance of Phosphora not a few seconds afterwards.

"Hey", she said as she walked into the gardens, her arms lifted above her head and stretched to the sky.

"Phosphora", Viridi greeted immediately and loudly, "I was beginning to think you were planning on sleeping forever".

Phosphora laughed, and then sighed. "I need my energy for Pit. Adorable little guy, but he can run circles around me sometimes".

"Off to Skyworld again?" Pittoo said, looking over his shoulder.

"Yup", she replied. "Which reminds me, I need to you check in on the Jitterthugs for me while I'm gone".

Pittoo shrugged and spoke in a noncommittal tone. "Sure. Whatever. Remember to tell Pit how incredibly I dislike his existence right now".

This time, Viridi laughed. Phosphora answered him with the same tone he'd given her. "Sure. Now, I'll leave you two to whatever it is you're doing. I see Lady Viridi has her bow…" Pittoo felt Phosphora pat his shoulder sympathetically. "Try not to embarrass him too much Lady Viridi, I won't be here to diffuse your…debates".

"Go away, Phosphora", Pittoo huffed as the Goddess turned her playful smirk upon him.

"With pleasure, miserable one", she returned. "I will tell Pit and Lady Palutena that you said 'hello'".

And with that, she was gone. The awkward air began to once more settle upon the Goddess and angel in her absence. Pittoo rose to his feet. "I'll leave you to it, then", he said, turning away before his gaze lingered too long and prompted thoughts to rise to the forefront of his mind.

_I said touch, not explore…_

Then why had she let him do just that?


	4. Chapter 4

Phosphora approached the bustling capital city of Skyworld at a steady pace, taking the time to simply enjoy the lightness of her form and the song of the wind as she flew through the air. Islets were scattered across the sky by a seemingly wandering mind, with no discernible pattern to their location. They hung fixed in the air, the majority uninhabited and lying strewn with jagged slabs of stone and broken pillars. She was often led to wonder what manner of grand design these islets had once belonged to, and what occurrence had split them asunder and cast them so far from the city before her. Nevertheless, she passed them by once more, moving forwards and approaching inhabited isles.

Angels moved through the air along with her now, going to and fro on their daily business. Most offered a polite smile and greeting; some chose to ignore her presence altogether. She had grown accustomed to this, it was understandable after all. She was under the employ of a Goddess who made no secret of her dislike for humankind, and no doubt the population of Skyworld often questioned her trustworthiness and her intentions. Pit and Palutena had helped ease her discomfort in the beginning, when it seemed like all the gazes she received were dark, sharp and distrustful. She raised her own hand and smile in response to those that greeted her as she made for the city itself.

In her periphery vision, she glimpsed an angel rolling languidly through the air, banking towards her in a shallow downward arc. She paid him no particular mind, instead dwelling on the thought of Pit's expression when she told him of how she had witnessed his brother and her Goddess actually managing to get along. She almost giggled out loud at the dumbfounded expression her imagination drew of him. Pittoo and Viridi getting along? Nonsense. The angel she had seen a moment before passed unnecessarily close overhead, shouting his greeting down at her.

"Hey".

Phosphora glanced upwards and lifted her hand absentmindedly in return. "Hey".

And then she almost fell out of the sky.

"_PIT?!_"

Her shriek rang through the air and stopped a dozen angels dead in their tracks. She had no eyes for them, she could only gaze upwards at the angel before, her mouth agape and her limbs limp, almost forgetting to exercise her power and keep herself afloat.

Given the mere glimpse she had taken, it should not have surprised her so. This was not the first time that Pit had flown out to meet her, but this time was so much different. Phosphora's eyes were sharper than a hawk's, their ability to capture and process an image much more swift and efficient. In a single glance she had been able to discern an altogether different detail about the angel. When he had flown out to meet her before, he did so by his Goddess' power and so his wings were of golden light, glittering dust trailing in his wake. But this time, she had looked and seen wings of pure white, huge and spread elegantly in the air. No wonder she had not recognised him immediately.

Pit could fly _by himself._

"Hey Phosphora", the angel said animatedly, the widest of grins stretching his lips as he floated in the air above her.

Phosphora pinched herself, hard. Apparently, this was not a dream. She tried to speak, but there were no words, and so all she could do was stare. Pit would remember the shocked expression on her face for a long time to come.

* * *

Viridi found him in the library, or at least the room that at present barely passed for being called such. It was at best a fledgling collection of books, and not one of them would be here in her fortress but for him.

Since their encounter earlier in the morning, she had been distracted, her bow put aside with a frustrated sigh as she instead sat and gazed long and hard at her right arm. She had learned long ago the special attributes of the ink patterned upon her skin, understanding that it was meant to represent what she had been set over to govern. She was Nature incarnate; as she was stationed to watch over and protect it, so too was she one with its existence. As life grew and prospered, she would feel its natural energy flowing through and invigorating her; in contrast, where her forests were harmed by the blade of an axe and her streams sullied by the necessities of humankind, so too did she feel their pain. It was knowledge she had kept to herself since the dawn of her time, and if it were known it would not be difficult to understand Viridi's ever present dislike for Man's existence.

She had looked long and hard at her arm, at the same time asking herself the same questions again and again. What had possessed her to permit Pittoo to touch her? It was something she had not allowed of anyone since the time of the old pantheon – a privilege granted to an exclusive few. Not even Phosphora, who she trusted above every other being she knew of had been granted such permission. The words had spilled from her lips when she told the angel he had that permission, preceded by not a single thought and in the wake of his touch followed with a thousand. She had inexplicably wanted to share it with him, to satisfy the genuine curiosity that flavoured his tone and the fascinated gleam in his blood-red eyes. But there was more to it, she knew, something that a deeper, simpler part of herself wanted.

She was thankful that he had been so drawn by the sensations he experienced that he had paid no mind to her expression. If Pittoo had looked up, he would have seen her catch her lip between her teeth; if he had listened, he would have heard her breath hitch as his fingertips gently explored the world upon her flesh.

Viridi had learned long ago that physical interaction with the ink brought about its own sensations for her. It was complex, something that she had never been able to confidently name, something that her logical self could not truly decipher and yet the essence of her being understood with utter completeness. It was contentment and satisfaction; she felt elated, blissful as a soft thrum of pleasure crept beneath her skin and spoke to a part of her that she could never commune with otherwise. Warmth had blossomed from her core and spread to her extremities, and she had been utterly aware of Pittoo's touch. It was too much too soon; he couldn't have known what he was stirring up within her. She had had to stop him.

_Too much too soon…_

Viridi was not one to waste time with her words; she was blunt and direct. Part of her knew what that thought meant, but a greater part of her restrained the answer from coming forth. She didn't know how to say it. Finally, she had risen from her seat and departed the gardens, wandering aimlessly around her fortress in attempts to occupy her body and mind – and that had ultimately led her here. To him. And she didn't complain.

"What are you up to now?" she asked as she stepped into the small circular room. Pittoo was sat at a rounded table, a thick book splayed before him that he did not look up from when he spoke.

"Reading", he answered with a tone that questioned Viridi's powers of common sense for asking something so obvious.

Viridi rolled her eyes. "Goodness, what is it with you and these books? When you're not stalking around in a mood darker than your clothes or using my trees for target practice, this is all you do".

"All thanks to you", he replied casually.

Viridi paused and then gave a smirk that softened into a small smile. The angel never could just come and out with it, could he?

He had first asked her for books a week after he had taken residence on the fortress; she had laughed in surprise at his request and proclaimed there was no need for such things. Pittoo hadn't argued with her. He had simply shrugged, apparently accepting her response and walking away. That had given her pause; she had almost certainly been expecting him to protest her words given the arguments that had arisen between them from almost the first minute he set foot upon her fortress. If she was honest, she had almost been looking forward to it. Soon afterward she had decided to entertain his request, giving herself the reasoning that it would be much better to have the angel occupied outside of the tasks she would give him rather than have him skulk around the fortress all day and inevitably incite arguments between them. She had sent down a number of nimble Skreetle to Overworld to 'procure' some reading material.

Pittoo's reaction to her suddenly producing a stack of books for him had been a simple raising of his brow and his lips to pause halfway in the act of forming words. He hadn't immediately thanked her, instead scratching the back of his head with a gaze that flitted between the books and her before finally muttering his gratitude in an almost obtuse manner. They had managed to go two whole days without arguing after that. Annoyingly, Phosphora had leapt on the books with a preparedness that suggested she had been watching and waiting from the side-lines for Viridi to cave in to Pittoo's request. She soon began to alternately come across both of them silently absorbed in whatever volume they had chosen for that occasion.

"You're such a dork", she told him. "Books aren't that interesting".

Pittoo glanced up. "They are if you can read them, Viridi".

The Goddess gave a 'hmph' and folded her arms, looking down her nose at him. "And why would _I _need to read them?" she said. "I have a perfectly willing servant who will read them _for_ me".

"Phosphora?"

"I was thinking more of a delightful little angel who will not refuse my commands".

Pittoo looked up with feigned confusion shaping his features. "Pit?"

Viridi pointed her eyes to the ceiling and sighed, shaking her head. "What _are_ you reading anyway?"

"A human account of the history of the gods", Pittoo replied as she walked around to his side of the table.

"Oh?" Viridi said, genuinely surprised. She leaned over his shoulder and peered at the text. "Am I in there?"

Pittoo turned his head and favoured her with something of a devious grin. "Indeed you are".

She didn't like his tone. "Show me", she demanded.

He did, turning the thin, flaky pages until he apparently reached the correct one. He didn't say a word however, until she demanded that he read it for her, smirking before he began to do so. Within a minute, the book lay on the other side of the room and Pittoo was left to clutch his stomach and belt out his laughter as Viridi stormed out, audibly fuming.

"Pathetic, good for nothing humans", the Goddess grumbled as Pittoo's signature cackle nipped at her heels. It did occur to her then that the angel could have been lying to her, but she wasn't given much of an opportunity to explore the idea for no sooner did she leave the fledgling library did Phosphora appear from around the corner of the corridor, yelling her name the moment she spotted the Goddess as though Viridi were deaf.

"Lady Viridi!"

Viridi actually winced at the volume of Phosphora's voice; it only took a brief glance at her expression to see that something had thoroughly excited her. She could hardly contain herself. Viridi hadn't seen that kind of look on Phosphora's face since the day she first took Lux and Phos 'out for a spin'. Viridi had forbidden her from doing such a thing again after Phosphora and the legendary unicorns had inadvertently spun up one of the largest thunderstorms the Goddess had ever witnessed.

"What is it?" Viridi asked as Phosphora ran towards her, positively bouncing on the spot when she came to a standstill.

"You won't believe it. You won't!"

"I probably won't", Viridi agreed, folding her arms and watching her sarcastic tone sail right past Phosphora's head.

"It's Pit", Phosphora cried. "He can fly!"

Viridi arched her brow. "This is news? Hasn't he always been able to fly thanks to his dear beloved – "

"No no no", Phosphora shook her head. "By himself. Pit can fly by himself now!"

Viridi was utterly still, and for a long moment utterly silent. "What?"

"He can fly, Lady Viridi – "

"I heard that", the Goddess snapped. "How?"

"The Rewind Spring", Phosphora explained. "After his wings burnt up and Pittoo took him there, whatever is in that water…it healed him. I don't know; he doesn't understand it either. I don't even think Lady Palutena knows exactly how it worked".

Viridi's thoughts were in panicked turmoil and she didn't know why. She could not pluck the single coherent thought from the chaos that she needed to understand why this news worried her so. It should not have bothered her in the slightest. Perhaps she should have merely been slightly annoyed by it; Pit being able to fly by himself no doubt meant she would have to endure more frequent visits from the angel to her fortress to see Phosphora. But that alone was not the problem; the problem was that Pit had his own wings, no longer having to rely on Palutena's Power of Flight to fly. And that would not have been a problem at all were it not for the existence of one particular being. It was a problem because –

"Pit can fly by himself? He has his own wings?"

Phosphora nodded enthusiastically, looking over Viridi's shoulder. The Goddess had never been so aware of the angel's presence; she had never heard his voice as clearly as she did in that moment.

"Viridi, let me go to the Rewind Spring".

"No".

A single word spoken without pause; it rang through the corridor like the clash of steel blades. It sucked all the joy and excitement from Phosphora's expression in an instant, rendering the air around them silent with shock. Phosphora turned to look at her, confused; Viridi did not turn to face Pittoo.

"What?" the angel managed to say after a long moment.

"I need you here", Viridi said plainly. She somehow managed to keep her voice calm and steady. "There's a lot of work to do".

Phosphora continued to look confused as she spoke, her gaze shifting uncertainly between Pittoo and the Goddess. "Lady Viridi, I – I can stand in for Pittoo while he's gone. I don't imagine it would take too long…"

"No", the Goddess said. "You're staying", she said without looking at him. "I need you".

_I need you._

She hadn't meant to say it; it slipped from her tongue before she could reel it back in, three words loaded with more meaning than she could comprehend in the heat of the moment.

"Are you serious?" Pittoo said in a strangled tone of incredulity. "Viridi, you can't – "

She whirled around to face him, suddenly furious. "Don't call me that!" she shouted. "You and I aren't _equal_".

The angel physically stepped backwards as she rounded on him, speaking with a vehemence that she had never directed at him before. Pittoo was taken aback, stunned into silence for a long moment. It was not the first time she had berated him for not using an honorific with her name, but this was the first time he knew the Goddess really meant it. Despite that, it was not enough to cow him; his own anger surged to the fore and he retook his ground.

"You're going to confine me here for no reason?" he said. "A lot of work to do? _What _work? This is ridiculous; let me go – "

"I said no", Viridi said yet again. "When I say no, I _mean _it. Do you take me for Palutena? Do you think whining and begging will change my mind?"

"I think you're – "

"I don't care what you think!" Viridi cut across him. "You are the one who pledged your services to me. I did not beg you to do so, _you_ made that choice. So now you're here, in my service, under _my _authority. You go where _I _say you go, _when_ I say you go. Is that clear enough for you? _Is it?_" she demanded when Pittoo did not answer her.

She would remember the look on his face for a long time. It was rage, pure, hard and cold. His jaw was clenched tight, and she could see the muscles jumping as his teeth pressed into each other. His eyes seethed as she met them, blazing with barely restrained anger. His lips barely moved when he spoke.

"I get it".

They glared daggers at each for a long moment before a timid voice reminded them of the presence of another.

"Lady Viridi", Phosphora began meekly.

Viridi cast her hard gaze over her shoulder. "Leave me", she said in a tone that brooked no argument. She found that she could not turn back to face Pittoo. "Both of you".

And so they left.

In the heavy silence that remained in their wake, the Goddess pressed her eyes shut as inexplicable tears rolled down her cheeks.


	5. Chapter 5

They were both as stubborn as the fortress' walls, draining the atmosphere of all its joy and leaving behind a thick tension in its place. Phosphora quickly found that she could not bear to dwell long in the presence of either of them, their hard, sullen expressions even in the face of her attempts to cheer them refusing to be removed. The words she received from Viridi were curt and sharp; the words she received from Pittoo didn't exist at all. The angel kept a silent vigil no matter what she said to him. In the end, exasperated beyond her limits, Phosphora simply chose to escape from the fortress for lengthy periods of time, visiting and spending the majority of that time with Pit in Skyworld.

These visits were both born of her own desire and the growing necessity to keep Pit from visiting her in return. His wings were growing stronger by the day and he had already expressed his intentions to trial his strength and stamina by flying to Overworld. Phosphora, however, thought it best that he did not come to the fortress until things had cooled down. Pittoo looked about ready to murder his brother at Phosphora's mere mention of his name, and Viridi's expression would become stony, indicating that she would send Palutena's angel packing the moment he turned up on her doorstep. So she kept Pit in Skyworld, spending increasing amounts of time with him as the tense silence within the fortress seeped into the very walls and threatened to driven her crazy. Perhaps she would have spent even more of her time away from her home had it not been for the duties she was tasked to perform.

With the time that she did spend there during the full week of intense discomfort that followed up her revelation to Viridi and Pittoo the fact that Pit could now fly by himself, she dwelt in thought, thoughts that had begun to surface shortly after Pittoo had taken residence. She had initially thought that there was nothing between them save the angel's own code of honour that compelled him to repay the debt he felt he owed the Goddess; Phosphora had never heard Viridi at any point mention that she had expected such a thing of him. When she sat high in the trees or hid behind walls, eavesdropping on their arguments, they uncannily reminded her of herself and Pit, though in comparison she and the angel merely bickered with one another.

But there was more to it; just as when she had witnessed them apparently getting along the day before Pit shocked her with his newfound ability, Phosphora had seen Pittoo and her Goddess grace each other with thoughtful expressions when the other was unaware. Both of them were difficult to read in such moments, Viridi would sometimes favour the angel with an intense look before quickly turning her eyes aside, catching her lower lip between her teeth. She had seen Pittoo distracted by the Goddess while reading when she walked by, his gaze flitting up to follow her stride until he appeared to catch himself and cough, lowering his eyes once more.

It didn't take Phosphora long to recognise that they were attracted to each other, a realisation that made her immeasurably happy for her Goddess. She understood that the two of them argued so passionately and frequently to give themselves an excuse to not only be in one another's presence, but to exist just on the edge of each other's boundary of private space. She guessed that there was something holding back both of them from expressing themselves more directly to each other, something more complex than merely shyness; that was a trait she would not attribute to either of them in the way she could do so with herself and Pit's relationship. It was only after she had seen Viridi's reaction her to the news of Pit's ability to fly that she had slowly come to understand something more of the Goddess. Viridi was afraid – or at least she thought so. Phosphora hoped her intuition was correct, because she had decided to try and talk to the Goddess about it.

Seven days after the thick, stony silence had settled over the fortress, Phosphora found Viridi at another target range, her bow in hand with her quiver of arrows sitting neatly at her hip. She paused a moment to watch the Goddess let loose several shots, unlike Pittoo her attuned eye able to track the blindingly fast projectiles as they covered the distance between the bow and board in the blink of an eye. All three of the shots Phosphora witnessed missed the centre of the target by a fraction. Viridi's expression was one of intense frustration, and if she had noticed Phosphora's presence she made no move to suggest it. Phosphora steeled herself before she approached the Goddess, almost wincing pre-emptively.

"Lady Viridi", she announced herself.

Viridi turned to her with a small look of surprise; evidently she hadn't realised she was there. "Phosphora. What is it?"

"I…I was wondering if I could talk to you", she replied.

The Goddess sighed and lowered her bow to her side. "Good timing, I suppose", she said. "I was getting dangerously close to breaking something. What about?"

"About…well, about Pittoo", Phosphora said carefully. "Both of you, actually".

"I'm listening", Viridi said in a tone that almost suggested she wasn't.

Phosphora took a deep breath. "Lady Viridi, why are you keeping Pittoo here?"

"I already told both of you; there's lots of work to do around here".

"You haven't asked him to do anything for the past week", Phosphora reminded her softly.

Viridi shrugged. "So? I didn't say that work would come around immediately". The Goddess gave her a searching look, pursing her lips. "What is this really about, Phosphora?"

"I've known you for – well, a while now", Phosphora said with a smile set to smooth the way for her future words, "will you allow me to be perfectly honest with you?"

"I'm almost offended that you feel the need to ask me that", Viridi said.

"Sorry", Phosphora said quickly, lifting her hands in an open gesture. "It's just…okay", she said, preparing herself for a potential whiplash of the Goddess' mood. "Lady Viridi, I think I know the real reason why you won't let Pittoo go to the Rewind Spring".

"I'm listening", she replied quietly.

"You're afraid that if Pittoo gets the ability to fly by himself, you will never see him again".

An unnerving silence stretched between them, one in which the Goddess held Phosphora's eyes the entire time. She feared that she had overstepped, that Viridi's next words would be to dismiss her.

"What makes you think that?" Viridi said instead, her tone neutral.

"I've been watching you – both of you", Phosphora amended quickly when the Goddess lifted her brow. "I think…I think you –"

Viridi gave a smile as she interrupted her. "Phosphora, don't be silly. Do you think I'm going to bat my eyelids at some angel? I'm a Goddess", she finished with a tone that clearly indicated she thought such a statement was more than enough to quell Phosphora's suspicions. Those words, however, did nothing except confirm those suspicions.

When she had pondered why Viridi would not express herself directly to Pittoo, pride had been one of the clearest answers she could come up with, and now she knew precisely where that pride was placed. Phosphora knew her Goddess too well, however, to attempt to try and alter her thoughts on this front. Viridi was prideful comfortably beyond the point of arrogance. During the incident in which Palutena had succumbed to the influence of the Chaos Kin and Viridi had deigned to step in and assist Pit, Phosphora had listened to the Goddess persistently tell the poor angel how much better she was at doing things than his Goddess, whether that be in the Power of Flight she gave him or the structure and organization of the Forces of Nature in comparison with the Centurions. Instead, then, she returned to the point she had previously established.

"As I said, Lady Viridi, I've been watching both of you. Pittoo…I think he has certain reasons why he would choose to stay here", she said, deciding not to directly out with it. As though in reward, Viridi's gaze slid away from hers, looking aside to the peppered target board. Phosphora pressed on.

"Keeping him here will only earn his contempt", she said. "However, if you let him go, I think both of you will come to understand each other better".

Viridi turned back to her. "Why should I care what keeping him here costs me? He gave himself into my service; he has no choice but to obey my orders".

"Actually, Lady Viridi, I've noticed that with Pittoo, you've begun to call your orders 'favours'".

The first time Phosphora had heard the Goddess ask Pittoo for a 'favour', she had been somewhat confused, especially when the angel answered to it as though it were a command. After a while, however, she began to wonder if Viridi was unconsciously noting that she considered Pittoo's debt paid. Phosphora had never seen the angel give a sign that he recognised this; he would simply do as she asked with little complaint. Right now, the Goddess was looking at her with a mingled look of anger and revelation. Phosphora wisely decided that she had said enough.

"Phosphora", Viridi said quietly, her gaze sliding away once more, "thank you for your concern, but your thoughts stray far from the mark. Much like my infernal arrows", she added, gesturing haphazardly in the direction of the target range.

"I understand", Phosphora said as she inclined her head respectfully, accepting the Goddess' dismissal. "Perhaps you could challenge Pittoo to another competition, I'm sure the possibility of embarrassing him will sharpen your aim".

Viridi smirked. "Perhaps it would".

* * *

Phosphora became a watchful and observant eye upon the fortress as the days went by, hovering like a hawk above the unsuspecting angel and Goddess. Neither of them seemed able to recognise her presence within their vicinity, equally distracted beyond their means.

Not long after her conversation with Viridi did the Goddess finally approach Pittoo – but it was not to make amends with him, at least not in a direct manner. Viridi appeared to want to put Phosphora's poking and prying to rest by immediately setting Pittoo to work. She sent him, quite literally, down to Overworld to survey the land for Underworld activity. Phosphora had watched as Viridi wordlessly granted Pittoo the Power of Flight and then promptly launched him off into the air before he could properly protest the orders she gave him. She had rigidly steered his path as he went and returned, almost as though wary of any attempts from him to steal away, though it was of course beyond him.

Despite Pittoo having answered in the affirmative to Viridi's words when she had asserted her authority over him, he had immediately made an effort to leave the fortress by other means. Viridi had been one step ahead of him however; Pittoo went first to the Lightning Chariot and its steeds, only to find that both were comfortably enclosed in an impenetrable mesh of thick, thorny vines that persisted to appear upon his future attempts to make use of them. He had then gone around to various flight-capable units of her army, attempting to persuade them to transport him to the Underworld. Despite his means, they had refused him; the promise of the Goddess' wrath was heavy upon them. The angel had once come to Phosphora herself for help, but she too had to refuse him, not wanting to incite Viridi's anger. Finding himself well and truly grounded then, Pittoo had burrowed himself into the secret corners of the fortress, making no effort to communicate with anyone. On the days that Pit inevitably visited, he was nowhere to be found. Of course, he could not hide forever from the fortress' mistress.

"Mistress, will you let me go to the Rewind Spring this day?"

"Go away, Pittoo", the Goddess would huff.

Slowly, they began to settle into their old routine. Phosphora looked on as Pittoo began a persistent campaign against Viridi, asking her daily the same question in the same monotonous voice. At first, he had meant the request for what it was, but Viridi's response never changed and so he began to ask it with even more frequency simply for the purpose of frustrating her beyond her senses. Since the day in which she had first forbidden him, he had never used her name again, instead electing to call her 'Mistress' with a bored, deadpan tone that lacked the nuances of deference the using of the title was supposed to have demonstrated. He did not mean it for what it was, instead he used it simply to annoy the Goddess – and it was evidently taking its toll on her patience.

Phosphora had at first taken affront at Pittoo casually calling Viridi by her name; she had known the Goddess for much longer and shared a deep, trusting relationship with her and yet still did not dare to use her name without an honorific. Viridi had appeared to be just as angry too, reprimanding the angel whenever he did it. But he continued to do it and Phosphora noticed that the Goddess started to allow some instances to slip her by unpunished. She hadn't understood why then and she still couldn't puzzle it out now. Perhaps Viridi had recognised tones of respect in Pittoo's seemingly brazen manner; Phosphora certainly hadn't, but as time went on she began to trust that the Goddess must have had her reasons for allowing it. Now, when Pittoo instead referred to her as 'Mistress', Phosphora would see Viridi clench her jaw, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.

She watched as they bantered, bickered and argued, but there was always an underlying tension between them. Their situation was never forgotten and it was not uncommon for Pittoo to turn the mood sour with a sudden asking of his single, unchanging question. She could see that Viridi was growing weary of it, but yet still she persisted in erecting the wall of denial.

A day came that found Phosphora once more perched within the treetops, her favourite book in hand as she watched Viridi grow ever more frustrated with the act of trying to catch a Souflee, a creature that had long since become a delicacy for the Goddess. Souflees were among the rarest creatures in existence and the understanding of them completely lacking save for their value as a delicious treat – when caught. Phosphora herself was treated to the most amusing scene of Viridi trying to snag the evasive Souflee in a thin mesh of vines fastened to the end of a much larger and singular plant. It was not known what drew a Souflee to any particular location, only that to catch them was almost solely based upon the requirement of luck, and apparently Viridi's quota for the day had run its course. The Souflee danced beyond her efforts with ease, giving a high pitched giggle that further incensed her as she just about managed to cut off its attempts to escape her clutches entirely.

"Stupid, infernal thing!" Viridi growled, failing to notice the presence of Pittoo coming up alongside her shoulder.

"It's only trying to run for its life", he said. "Don't look on it too harshly".

She jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to him; he stood there with his arms folded, watching the Souflee wriggle its way through her flailing vine-net.

"You won't catch it that way", he said after a moment, conjuring his Silver Bow into being. "I'll just –"

"Don't!" Viridi shrieked, throwing her arm in front of him.

Pittoo gave her a baffled expression as he lowered the bow. "Why not?"

"Souflees are _extremely_ delicate", she told him. "If you blast an arrow through it, it'll explode to pieces. Exploded Souflee doesn't sit right with my palette".

He dematerialised the Silver Bow after a moment, muttering something about her being 'picky'. He spoke again after observing her futile efforts.

"I can go and get it for you", he offered suddenly, "if you're willing to help me fly".

Phosphora sat up slightly when she heard that, watching her Goddess intently. Viridi didn't look away from the angel, though Phosphora glimpsed her chew on her lower lip. The thought of a captured Souflee and the delightful treat she'd later make of it apparently did much to sway her mind.

"Alright", she agreed, lifting a hand.

"And you'll have to give me creative freedom", Pittoo suggested. Phosphora knew what he meant; Viridi had almost begun making it a habit of controlling every aspect of his flight lately. She chewed her lip again, considering his words and no doubt the delicious taste of her prize.

"Alright", she said carefully.

Phosphora imagined that Viridi would be ready at a moment's notice to reel Pittoo back in if he attempted to make a getaway. It surprised her that he did not make a single mention of the Rewind Spring throughout the exchange, seeming to have sincerely offered Viridi his help with no ulterior motive. She watched as they worked in tandem, Pittoo rolling and looping through the air in pursuit of the screaming Souflee with the Goddess' vine-net in hand as she manoeuvred longer, thicker vines to cut off the creature's path, all the while taking care not to strike it. Within a minute or so, the two of them had achieved what Phosphora had watched Viridi struggle with for the last seven. Pittoo returned to the platform from which he had launched himself, handing over to Viridi the struggling form of the Souflee which she gazed at with large, hungry eyes.

"Thanks", she said, and Phosphora could tell by the foreshadowing grimace of her expression that Viridi was anticipating Pittoo's infamous question. The angel, however, merely shrugged as he inclined his head in acknowledgement, turning and walking away as his wings dissipated. Phosphora and the Goddess watched him leave, both surprised beyond words. Viridi's gaze lingered long after Pittoo vanished into the hallways of the fortress, the forgotten Souflee struggling in vain at her side. Inexplicably, she let the net fall from her grasp; the Souflee held true to its name and fled into the sky, giving a joyful whine as it dived headlong into the clouds. Viridi had no attention to spare for it however, and Phosphora watched as the Goddess took a deep breath and schooled her expression before following after Pittoo.

* * *

As day turned to dusk and the sky gradually darkened she found him, sitting against the trunk of a tree with a book in hand. She didn't know how he was managing to read when there was very little natural light to illuminate the pages for him; perhaps he was pretending. He didn't look up as her feet crunched the grass, or when her footfalls came to an eventual halt. Viridi opened her mouth once but then closed it again; she had decided to take Phosphora up on her indirectly offered advice, but the prepared words that seemed so clear in her head would not translate smoothly to her tongue. All the while as silence encompassed them, Pittoo did not look up.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked, eventually breaking that silence.

He gave no indication as to whether or not he thought it strange that she would ask for his permission. "Sure".

She almost wished he had refused her, but he hadn't and so now it was time. She steadied herself. "You've done enough work on my behalf, Pittoo. Your debt is paid".

Of course, this drew his attention. Pittoo looked up at her slowly, his hand slipping away from his jaw as he favoured her with a surprised and almost disbelieving expression. When he had offered to work for her they had not discussed terms, there wasn't a contract verbal or otherwise to identify for how long Pittoo was required to stay under Viridi's authority. However, both had felt for a long time now that the angel's required service had been fulfilled. Why he opted to remain had initially been beyond both of them, but with time slowly came the inkling of understanding, one neither of them had admitted to. Now, however, she had officially told him that there was nothing to keep him here; it was not necessary that he stay any longer and he was free to leave at his choosing. But of course, he wasn't, at least not until she spoke once more.

"Pittoo", she said quietly, meeting his eyes. "If you had your own wings, where would you go?"

His answer was immediate, almost as though it were rehearsed. His nature leapt to the fore at the mere suggestion of freedom, and before his mind's eye he saw himself propelled through the sky, soaring upon wings that belonged only to him.

"Anywhere I wanted".

"Oh".

The Goddess looked crestfallen, saddened as she turned her eyes away and took a deep breath. Pittoo was for a long moment confused; there was something else straining to spill from his lips, words that he felt he needed to say that he intuitively knew would be the right thing to say.

"I'd come back, Viridi".

Her eyes, bright and brown, turned back to him. She heard the tentativeness in his voice as he said her name, saw his gaze flit as she met it. The breath she had held in the wake of his answer flowed easily between her lips as the weight of these new words settled upon her, spreading tingling warmth through her being. She did not know which elated her more, the fact that he had used her name or his vow to return. She then decided that it would be foolish to try and consider his words separate from the full whole; he had given her his promise and sealed it with her name. She had something to hold on to – something to anchor herself as she prepared for the truly difficult part. She almost didn't say it, very nearly deciding to simply walk away with the elation of Pittoo's words held firmly in her chest. But then she reminded herself of the pure look of joy that had reached his eyes when he had answered her question.

"Come on", she said, beckoning to him. "I'll guide you to the Rewind Spring".

It felt surreal; Pittoo stood slowly to his feet as though unsure whether or not he existed in reality. Together, they walked towards the edge of the platform and there she granted him the Power of Flight for the last time. Back in Skyworld, Pit would feel the joy of his brother flowing through him as leapt into the sky, and he would feel his own wings tingle with renewed life as Pittoo dipped his fluttering stumps into the waters of the Rewind Spring.

Viridi heard the rustling of leaves high above her as the angel became nothing more than a glittering dot to her eyes. A supportive, comforting hand was laid upon her shoulder.

"He'll come back", Phosphora assured her.

"He better", Viridi murmured, and then as though to make light of the situation and dissuade Phosphora from worrying about her, "otherwise I'll have you go after him and drag his insufferable behind back here".


	6. Chapter 6

Pittoo made his rest at the edge of the forest, able to see the steadily darkening sky above through the scattered canopies of the trees. He lowered himself heavily to the ground with a grunt, resting his back against an aged, thick trunk as he released a weary sigh. His eyes remained pointed skyward, watching dull grey clouds roll sluggishly across the blue-black expanse, the pinpricks of stars cast haphazardly in the air as day turned slowly to night. To look to the sky only served to emphasis the confusing thoughts that had settled upon his mind and refused to be budged; he made a noise of frustration and instead hid his face in his hands.

It was difficult for him to describe what had occurred two weeks prior, when he finally been able to visit the Rewind Spring and dip his wings into its waters. Remembering the warning he had been given when he had been required to do the same for his injured brother, he allowed his wings to be submerged in the crystalline depths of the pool for only a few short seconds. The change had not occurred immediately and he recalled a short moment of panic as he sat impatiently by the edge of the Spring and waited. Had he been deemed unworthy? Had the waters of the pool lost its supernatural potency? Had his brother's use of the Spring reset some sort of counter that rendered the water utterly normal for a hundred years until the stars were aligned correctly once more? But of course, these thoughts had harried him but for a moment, for shortly afterward did life spring from his back.

He remembered giving a purely instinctual shout of joy as thick, black wings burst forth from between his shoulder blades. In the rippling reflection of the water at his feet, he had been able to see them at his back. At the time, the wings had only just reached his waist, but Pittoo had no care for their size, all that mattered was that they were there and they were his. As excitement and wonder flooded through his being, Pittoo had launched himself high, beating his small wings with a fervour that could not be quenched. He had almost brought harm to himself with how hard he had pushed his newly born wings, but he was determined to make it beyond the Underworld and experience the winds of Overworld by his own power once more.

On that first day, his thoughts had been singular; nothing else occurred to him save the urge to explore, to glory in his utter freedom and fly the lengths and breadths of Overworld. He wanted nothing more than to feel the wind in his feathers again, to soar higher than the eagles and to reach up and grace the clouds themselves with his touch. On that first day, he forgot his brother, he forgot Skyworld; he forgot the war that had ravaged the towns and cities of humankind and the dregs of the Underworld that still remained upon Overworld. He forgot the promise he had made to the Goddess of Nature, but only on that first day. No sooner did the sun rise on the second day of his distinctly new life was the present turmoil of his thoughts foreshadowed.

Pittoo told himself that he was free, that he was once more his own angel, belonging to no one, but the truth was that no matter how often or aggressively he told himself this he still felt something tethering him to the fortress high above the clouds. He had made his promise to Viridi, a vow that he would return there, but he began to regret that he had not been more specific with that promise, at least for his own sake. He felt that there was a word missing; he should have told her he'd come back _eventually_. It would seem to be such a small and insignificant detail, but Pittoo would have used it to anchor himself to the freedom he had been granted. His nature demanded that he make his own path, and that path would stray far from those of others leading him and him alone into a new day, but whenever he closed his eyes he could see that path converging with another.

He pressed his hands to his face and hoped to swallow himself in the darkness behind his eyelids, but it was inexplicably easy for him to picture her. She smiled, pouted, laughed and grinned in that slightly lopsided fashion, the curve of her mouth favouring its right side. She arched her brow at him, her bright, brown eyes narrowing as she fumed; she huffed and turned her face aside, folding her arms as she proclaimed the stupidity of his latest line of argument. Pittoo couldn't stifle the sudden laugh that spilled from his lips; he missed her, and it was frighteningly easy for him to admit it.

The thought had first occurred to him on the fourth day after he had gained his wings, wings that had quickly matured in size and strength as he pushed them regularly to just the point of their limits with each day. He suddenly found himself thinking about returning to the fortress, halfway through constructing the earful Viridi would probably give him for not returning immediately from the Rewind Spring before he caught himself. Emphatically, he reminded himself that he had his freedom, and that he had no other intention but to enjoy it. Every single time the thought occurred to him, he pushed against it; Viridi had relinquished the leash she held over him and he was most certainly not keen on allowing her to fasten it about his throat once again. He bombarded himself with this manner of thinking until he could hear it pounding away at the inside of his skull as he slept.

It sufficed for a day or so, until a new line of thought rose to muddy the clarity of his mind. His nature demanded that he live and make his own way; he walked the path of life alone, burdened with the existence of no other. However, he remembered the time when he had once before had his wings, though they of course did not truly belong to him. At that time, though convinced of the manner of his nature, he had sought out his brother time and again. He gave himself the simple reasoning that he wished to prove himself the better of the two in all things, that he was the better flyer, the better fighter, the sharper mind and tongue. He had allowed himself to be recruited briefly by Arlon the Serene merely to exercise this desire. The truth that he had gradually realised however, was that he felt that something lacked within him when he could not, in his own peculiar way, share his experiences with Pit.

He had felt unmistakably alive when he fought against and then alongside his brother; he had only been able to truly come to understand himself when he was in Pit's presence. His most basic nature would demand he live as a loner, but he found himself inexplicably drawn to another – and here it was, happening all over again. Pittoo did not understand how he could long so for his freedom and yet want to be tethered to the life of another. He fought against his desire to return to the fortress with each day that passed him by, all the while the understanding of why he had dwelt there for so long becoming clearer and clearer to him.

Whether they were bickering or bantering, whether he was taking advantage of her inability to read and teasing her with wildly exaggerated accounts of the gods from a human perspective or she was soundly thrashing him at a competition of archery, Pittoo felt alive around Viridi. She kept him engaged as they verbally duelled, ripostes flying back and forth between them until the air was charged with their enthusiasm. When they argued, he was the immovable wall and she the unstoppable object; words spilled passionately from their lips, each vying for the last word, for the right to walk away having decidedly shut the other up. She could match him blow for blow, was similarly arrogant and possessed a razor sharp mind to go along with the ridiculous strength of her bow arm. In short, she thrilled him.

_Great, _Pittoo thought, _so let's just be friends and be done with it already._

But it wasn't that simple, he knew, because he wanted more. There was a desire growing steadily within him that he was afraid to admit. He didn't name or explore it, only in the most minimal sense acknowledging that it was there lest it blossom into something that would overtake him. He had to remind himself what he was and what she was; he had enjoyed beyond description experiencing the ink upon Viridi's arm, but he knew it was inappropriate.

The angel lifted his hands away and looked skyward; the simple truth was that he wanted to go back, what he would do or say when he did so however was beyond him, but it apparently didn't matter. All he wished to do was spread his wings and take himself once more to the fortress; perhaps everything would make sense to him once he did. Suddenly, his eyes snapped downwards and flitted to either side of him as he heard an ominous rustling.

He quickly found his feet, turning and slowly retreating backwards to the edge of the tree line as he sought to pierce the darkness with his gaze. It was a moment before scarlet bulbs began to emerge from the shadows, one, two – several. Many. His instincts blared a warning and he turned to his left, looking high. A Syren loomed, sweeping down in almost complete silence to grip him in its talons before he threw himself aside at the last moment.

Pittoo gave a yelp of pain and surprise as he hit the ground and his shoulder struck the hard, knotted root of a tree. Wincing, he regained his feet, conjuring his Silver Bow into being as he lifted his eyes and took stock of his surroundings. It seemed that he had inadvertently kicked the hornets' nest and woke its host; the Underworld surrounded him, cutting off routes of escape. He turned his eyes high and saw the dark outlines of Syrens perched in the treetops. With a grimace, he rolled his shoulders. When he had fought the group of Underworld stragglers that intercepted the Blader, he had jokingly wished for more foes to fight against. Whichever god was given dominion over the realm of wish making apparently had a cruel sense of humour.

* * *

Somehow, she knew he was coming. Viridi was once again with her bow in hand, loosing arrows at the targets she had erected at the far end of courtyard. This particular courtyard lay at the fringes of the fortress and so at her back lay the open sky and the edges of the platform. The morning sun had risen and found her here not too long afterward, restlessly seeking something with which to distract her thoughts. Her aim was wayward, her arrows failing to strike the mark that she intended for them as frustration and annoyance spread through her being. But she relished them, letting them flow throughout her to thoroughly occupy her mind. She wished only to hear the reverb of her bowstring and the impact of her arrows as she loosed them; she was weary of listening to her own voice murmur anxiously in her head.

As she drew another arrow from the quiver at her hip, something made her pause. It was neither a sound nor sight, but instead a simple feeling within her stomach that whispered a suggestion to her. She heeded its voice and turned, casting her gaze over her shoulder – and she saw him. He was as of yet a mere black dot upon the lightening morning sky, but she saw him. Her heart leapt in her chest, the distracted look in her eyes giving way to the brightness of relief as she turned fully upon her heel and quickly approached the edge of the platform. He had returned, _finally. _

Two long weeks had passed by at a cruel pace and she had grown anxious, doubt begin to cast clouds upon her thoughts. She had at times wondered if his promise had been a lie, meant only to appease her so that she would let him go to the Rewind Spring. She would berate herself afterwards for even contemplating such a thing. Well, now he was here, and she most certainly had an earful ready and waiting for him. He was still a little way off and Viridi relaxed her shoulders, folding her arms as she adjusted her posture. She didn't want to let on to him how anxious she had been for his return; his eyes were sharp and he'd no doubt call her out on it. It was difficult for her to have to admit to herself. She watched him draw nearer and nearer, her chest growing tight and knots forming in her stomach. She had to remind herself to breathe as he came into a close enough distance for her to make out his features. His wings were wide and as black as night, carrying him effortlessly through the air. But only a moment later did she begin to realise that something was wrong.

"Pittoo?" she said uncertainly.

He was listing in the air, his legs held unsteadily behind him. His right arm crossed his chest and tightly grasped his left shoulder as he beat his wings with a pained rhythm. There was a grimace upon his face that set her heart racing with worry, his path of flight beginning to veer to the side as he neared the platform. Viridi was barely conscious of the fact that she had begun to edge over to her right, anticipating where the angel would land. Or rather where he would crash.

Pittoo hit the ground at a teetering run, going no more than three strides before his legs failed him and he fell sharply, tumbling to an eventual stop beneath the shade of a tree's vast canopy. Viridi was at his side as he slowly managed to pull himself up into a sitting position, gritting his teeth as he gripped his shoulder. She dropped her bow to the ground and would forget its existence from then on; her eyes took in Pittoo's form, raking him from head to toe. He was a mess; his dark hair was tousled and matted with dirt, and his cheek sported a deep cut that he experimentally poked his tongue at and was rewarded with a sharp sting for his trouble. When Viridi pulled at his wrist and exposed his shoulder, she saw a trio of scarlet lines torn into his skin, the fabric of his black chiton in tatters.

"What on _earth_ happened to you?" she demanded.

"You think this is bad?" he quipped in a pained voice. "You should see the other guy".

Viridi shuffled around on her knees to his side, slapping at his hand as he made to return it to grasp his shoulder. "Keep still", she ordered him, drawing on her power.

He turned his head to watch her work, her outstretched palm enveloped in a pale green aura. He hissed and pressed his eyes shut as she gently ghosted her fingers over the tears in his skin, feeling – to his astonishment – his flesh repair itself beneath her touch.

"Serves you right", she told him when he gave an audible grunt of pain as she started on the next wound. "Where have you been?"

"Exploring".

"Exploring? Where, Twinbellows' den? You look like you volunteered to be his chew toy for the day".

"Funny", he grimaced, eyes narrowed under a fresh assault of pain. "I'm positively rolling with laughter".

"I'm not playing with you", she told him sternly, observing her efforts at his shoulder. The skin was repaired to the best of her ability, but he would still need actual rest to recover fully. "Where else?"

"Back", he said simply, though as he spoke he started to get to his feet. "Left wrist, right ankle – everywhere really", he said with an indifferent shrug. "Don't worry about it. I'll just sleep it off".

Viridi stared at him. "Excuse me? Don't be an idiot. Let me see the rest of your wounds".

"It's fine", he said, holding up his hands in a gesture meant to stop her advance. "Stop worrying about me".

"You look like hell", she told him plainly. "Who did this to you? What happened?"

"Forget about it, alright?" he said a little testily. "I'm fine".

"You almost crashed into a tree during your attempt to land, and you can barely stand up straight. You're _not_ fine".

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" he said, turning away. "Weren't you the one always threatening to throw me off the fortress or clip my wings mid-flight?"

He had only meant it as a joke; he didn't want her fussing over him as though he were a child. Viridi, however, took his jest seriously. Pittoo had half-turned away from her only to find her right hand wrapping itself in the fabric of his chiton and pulling him back around to face her. She yelled in his face.

"What on earth does that mean?" she demanded. "I've _always _cared!"

Pittoo found that there was nothing for him to say; he merely stood there limply, watching the fires blaze in Viridi's eyes.

"I care", she told him. "I cared since the day you first stepped foot here and spread your special brand of misery through my fortress. I cared when you asked me for books I can't even read. I cared every time I gave you wings and sent you to do my bidding. I tried my best to keep you safe, to keep you out of harm's way when you had to fight. Now look what happens the moment you get your wings; you run off and apparently try your hardest to get yourself killed. You disappeared for two weeks without even a word to let me know that you were okay, and when you do decide to turn up you look half dead and won't even let me help you".

"Didn't you release me from your employ? Why does what I decide to do with my freedom matter to you?" Pittoo demanded. "And if you cared, why did you keep that freedom from me for so long?"

Viridi made a sound of surprise at his words, reeling backwards. But then her grip on his chiton tightened as her jaw clenched, and when she leaned forward towards him Pittoo saw with perfect clarity the emotions held within her gaze.

"Answer me this, Pittoo", she said quietly. "If you had not gotten yourself injured, would you have even come back? For every single day after you left, I've been waiting for you, even if it was for you to come back just to say 'hello', at least I would know that you were alive and well. Do you want to know why I kept you from going to Rewind Spring? It's because I was afraid that once you had your own wings, you would leave this place and I would never see you again".

"Why?" Pittoo asked after a long, eternal moment of silence stretched between them. There was more he wanted to say, for he realised how ambiguous the question seemed, but the words died on his tongue. His mind was sluggish, bogged down with the words that Viridi hadn't said but he intuitively understood her to have meant. It appeared, however, that she understood his question for she started to speak.

"Because I can't help myself; I care about you", she told him. "I don't understand it, but you…" she struggled with the words for a moment, her gaze sliding away from him as her cheeks were tinged softly with pink. When she met his gaze again however, her eyes were set and determined and she spoke without hesitation. "You make me feel alive, Pittoo. I know it sounds stupid".

"It doesn't".

She looked at him. "What –?"

The unnamed desire sprung up within him like a fountain of water bursting anew from the earth, loosed by Viridi's confession. He knew what he craved, admitting it to himself at long last unburdened by shame or doubt. There was nothing more that he wanted right now than to take, to touch and taste, and so he did.

If Viridi was surprised at his boldness, she gave no sign of it; to _his_ surprise, however, she allowed him to steer her as he grabbed her wrist and broke her grip upon his chiton. She gave a small grunt as he pinned her form against the thick trunk of the tree he had been moments away from careening into, holding her arm beside her head. Her lips were there, moist, pale pink and slightly parted, and he found himself to be inexplicably _hungry_. Their eyes met, their gazes intense and smouldering with heat, sensual desire electrifying the air around them. Pittoo could bear no more of it; he kissed her.

She responded with as much if not more enthusiasm, lifting her free hand and pushing it into his hair, pulling him forwards into her. There were times when she had briefly permitted herself to glimpse upon such a scenario – and the reality of it was utterly different from the fantasy. Never did she imagine that Pittoo would display such passion, neither did she dream that she would find herself pinned beneath him as their lips crushed together. She had envisioned only a simple scene, a chaste kiss shared between them that would warm their cheeks with awkwardness afterwards. It was no wonder that she wholeheartedly preferred the reality; such a scene did not suit either of their natures.

His thumb slid across the ink of her arm, inspiring warmth to bubble up from her core that drew a sigh from her lips as she momentarily parted from him. Impatient, hungry, Pittoo drew her mouth to his once more. He was eager and she pliant, wanting and needing as much as him. She opened her mouth to his tongue, gripping his thick hair between her fingers. The hand that held hers against the tree began a journey downwards, and pleasure thrummed with a pulsing rhythm through Viridi as Pittoo's fingers trailed along the paths of the ink, swift and seeking. He reached the point where she had once stopped him, though this time she bore no such intentions. She wanted him to explore the ink, to feel his touch caress her skin. Pittoo would disappoint her however, if only for a moment.

He parted their lips, taking a moment to meet Viridi's eyes as he lifted his hand away from her arm. There was askance in her gaze and she made a small, cute sound of protest as he left her wanting. The smile he gave her was predatory. He brought his hand to her neck, his fingers curving around her nape while his thumb settled beneath her jaw and tilted her face upwards. He held her eyes for as long as possible as he leant down, witnessing the undulation of her throat as she swallowed beneath his intense gaze. He brought his mouth to her skin, touching his lips softly to the pulse at her neck. She sighed as he forged a path with his kisses that seemed to set her skin ablaze. She felt his fingers move to follow that path, coming up against the collar of her dress. She felt him tug it aside, just a little; she knew what he wanted.

_"How far does it go?" _he had asked.

_"Wouldn't you like to know, huh?" _she had answered.

He found out, pushing her collar aside to the see the beautiful, vivid patterns of colour that spun themselves into whorls and languid curving lines. It occurred to her then that she had only felt the touch of hands and fingers upon the ink, and that no other had ever been permitted to see the intricate patterns that flowed beyond her shoulder. They were small, delicate shapes; Pittoo would not find wide, sweeping plains or tall, proud forests here. He kissed a tight spiral of red and Viridi's eyes fell shut as something new and unparalleled raced along the arc of her spine, a different and yet somehow familiar sensation that she unabashedly relished. Pittoo inexplicably found the sweet taste of an apple lingering upon his lips. It gave him pause, but then he felt the gentle, encouraging pressure of Viridi's hand at the back of his head and so he leant down and kissed her again, once, twice – and then the strangest of ideas occurred to him and he parted his lips, teasing her skin with his teeth.

Absurdly, it disappointed him that he did not feel the wholesome crunch of an apple and its sweet juice flowing forth to grace his tongue. However, he was somewhat rewarded instead by Viridi giving a pleasurable hiss as she gripped his hair, breathing his name in a voice heavy with desire. She laid a hand to his chest and he looked up. There was askance in her eyes, and when he understood it, he couldn't believe what she was suggesting. He was not given the chance to ponder how to answer, however.

"A-_hem!"_

Startled, both Viridi and Pittoo gave a jolt, turning their eyes upwards to the source of the voice. Phosphora sat in the tree high above them, her face flushed pink as she fanned herself in exaggerated fashion.

"Forgive me for interrupting", she said casually, the slightest of tremors to her voice, "I just thought it would be useful of me to give you both a moment of clear-headedness. It's good to think certain things through, you know?"

Pittoo and the Goddess stared up at her, utterly dumbfounded. Her gaze flitted between both of them and then away from them, unable to hold their eyes. She had chanced upon the scene just before Viridi had at last made her confession to the angel, deciding to stay and see how things played out and never in a million years imagining that it would go the way it had. She had been mortified that she was intruding upon their moment of privacy and yet at the same time unable to tear her eyes away. Pit had _never_ kissed her like that; she thought she would likely melt on the spot if he did. She knew Viridi would pile her with a mountain of work for her voyeurism, but perhaps it had been a good thing that she had been there to stop them before…well, before things escalated.

When she saw the change upon her Goddess' expression, she knew it was time to leave. Viridi's eyes turned down a fraction, her hand sliding away from the back of Pittoo's head. Phosphora inclined her head respectfully and promptly bolted. It was a long moment before Pittoo regained his senses and turned back to the Goddess.

She turned her face to him, but would not meet his eyes. Instead, he felt her exert a gentle pressure upon his chest. Understanding, he moved away from her, watching her give a small shrug as she tugged her collar back over her skin. Even though she did not look at him, he could see the turmoil upon the surface of her eyes.

"Viridi…" he said, trailing off weakly as no other words came to him. She gave a small smile, but it was not a happy one. Without a word to him, she slowly walked away.

* * *

_"Phosphora, don't be silly. Do you think I'm going to bat my eyelids at some angel? I'm a Goddess"._

Her words were meant only to turn aside Phosphora's attention, but now she could not help but dwell on the implications of such thoughts in the light of what had happened. She was a Goddess and he just an angel; there was no law against it, but it was something that the pantheon of old had disapproved of greatly. Why should beings as great as they stoop to be intimate with those beneath them? However, with the fall of the old gods and the rise of a new pantheon, certain creeds that she had held to had begun to lose their relevance. She should have been able then to cast aside the thoughts that clung like parasites to the edges of her mind, to embrace the chance that had been given to her, one of which she had dared to dream for so long. But it was difficult.

Perhaps it would have been easier for her had their intimacy played out in a different manner. She saw herself bend easily before his desire, saw herself allow _him _to take; it should have been the other way around, her pride rallied against her. She should have been the dominant one, the one who controlled all the pieces. She should have been the one to take; Viridi was not a giver, she had lived through an age where to be selfless was regarded as utter folly. But yet still, she had given herself willing to the angel, allowing him to take the lead and guide them both with the fires of his passion. Was that so wrong? Did it suggest weakness on her part, perhaps even a lack of respect on Pittoo's part that he would act so boldly?

"Lady Viridi?"

Perhaps not.

She didn't turn to him immediately, though the skin of her throat tingled when she heard his voice. The honorific tripped uncertainly from his tongue, and though she heard the sincerity within it the title sounded odd coming from him.

"I'm…I'm sorry", he said to her back as she stood near the edge of the platform, looking out into the bright and blue morning sky. "I didn't mean to…I didn't intend…I apologise if I have upset you".

Such hesitance did not suit him either, she decided. She was being ridiculous, wasn't she, to place so much stock upon one occurrence? It was silly of her to even consider it; Pittoo, in his own unique and sometimes admittedly aggravating manner, always showed her respect. What had overtaken him was the raw essence of his passion; he had wanted her so desperately – craved her even more than the air he would need to breathe, and somehow she had understood that need within him and wanted to do nothing more than give herself wholly and completely to it. The capability for rational thought escaped both of them and all they were left to work with was the unpredictable flow of their desire.

"Lady Viridi?"

"Pittoo, don't ever call me that again. You sound stupid".

She turned at last to face him, smiling truthfully as the weight settled upon her heart was cast to the void. "I don't mind you calling me by my name".

He grinned after a moment. "Thank heavens", he said, "'Lady Viridi' takes too long to say".

Viridi arched her brow at him. "That's your reasoning for not using it all this time?"

"Mostly".

She considered him. "You know, I really am going to throw you off the edge of this thing one day".

Pittoo fluttered his wings. "I think your opportunity's long gone".

Her smile faded a little as he drew attention to his wings; uncertainty of a different kind crept up on her. There was a connection between she and the angel now, a relationship that most certainly went beyond friendship, but what exactly was it? She found that she didn't want to think about it just yet.

_Too much too soon…_

"Pittoo, what happens now?" she asked him. "I think I know you well enough by now; you…you won't stay here".

"I wouldn't mind calling this place 'home', actually", he told her.

"I'd rather you not feel obligated to stay for my sake", Viridi managed to say, though the words threatened to stick in her throat.

"I wouldn't call it an obligation", he said simply. "I came back because I missed you, Viridi. I just happened to be waylaid by the Underworld's miscreants along the way".

Viridi swore then that her heart leapt for joy loud enough for its rhythm to reverberate throughout the courtyard. Words that she could say in response to this failed to find her tongue and so instead, she held out her hand to him. He stepped forward and took it tentatively, giving a small yelp when she pulled him into an embrace. Surreptitiously, she allowed his momentum to turn them about so that Pittoo's back faced the edge. As his arms circled her waist and she leaned into his body she felt content, comfortable and – though the reasoning escaped her – safe. She breathed deep and easy, his thick hair soft against her cheek.

"Underworld miscreants, you say?"

"Yeah", the angel replied. "I'm not proud to have lost to them".

"Well, now's your chance for redemption", the Goddess said. And then she pushed him.

Pittoo flailed wildly as his heel caught the edge of the platform. "Viridi!"

She reached and grabbed hold of his wrist at the last moment, easily holding him steady as he teetered out over the edge. She smiled sweetly as the angel's chest heaved.

"Do calm down, Pittoo. I was only joking".

He stared blankly at her for a long moment. "I think it will take me a while to appreciate your sense of humour".

She patted him on the hand as she pulled him forward. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time", she told him. "Now, sit down and let me look at your injuries".

Glaring at her and grumbling, the angel did as was told.

* * *

**A/N: I feel that something is lacking from this chapter. This is the first proper attempt I've given to writing romance, and I'm not sure how well I've managed to capture the emotions/tension/atmosphere along with the interactions of the pair involved. But I've agonised over this for long enough; it's up to you guys how well I did or did not do here.**

**Anyway, just one more chapter to go. _Flight Of The Angel_ lacked an epilogue of sorts for a reason; we'll be wrapping things up soon enough.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Skyworld jumped in unison, startled by the sudden crack of thunder that rang through the air. Pit almost trod on the toes of the Goddess as the loud clap reverberated through the streets of the city at the foot of the Temple. Chuckling, Palutena laid her hand against his back, steadying him as he stumbled in his efforts to not fall into the Goddess and end up in quite the embarrassing heap on the ground. Looking up as he found his balance, Pit could only marvel along with Skyworld's citizens at the sight that had appeared high above the city.

"Talk about an entrance", he laughed shakily, heart still pounding away in his chest.

"Flashy indeed", Palutena agreed.

The Lightning Chariot hung motionlessly in the air for a long moment, its magnificent steeds pawing at a ground that did not exist as their flanks crackled with electricity. Phosphora stood at the head of the chariot, clearly rather smug with the manner of their entrance and the effect it had as she confidently held the reins of Phos and Lux. Behind her stood the Goddess of Nature and Pittoo, side by side as they mirrored each other's stance with folded arms and something of an indifferent expression, leaning against the sides of the chariot.

Pit's eyes grew bright and a wide smile found its way to his lips as he saw his brother. Several months had passed since he had seen him; Pittoo never once visited Skyworld after the end of the war, always sending his greetings with Phosphora, and after Pit's wings had at last grown allowing him to the fly, Pittoo had aptly avoided his presence whenever he went to visit Phosphora. The angel had yet to look down and see him yet however; Pit watched as Pittoo turned to Viridi and said something that made her laugh. She in turn said something to him, lifting an arm to accompany her words with a gesture; Pittoo smirked, shaking his head. It rather surprised him to see it, in fact; Phosphora had told him several times of occurrences where his brother and her Goddess managed to get along for more than five minutes, but he had trouble believing her.

"Pittoo looks well", Palutena observed at his side as Phosphora flicked the unicorns' reins and angled the Chariot down towards the Temple.

"I can't believe he hasn't visited Skyworld all this time", Pit complained.

"Well, you know Pittoo", the Goddess said, and with this particular angel, those few words were statement enough.

"How do you think things will go with Lady Viridi?" Pit asked as the Chariot was guided through a tight circle as Phosphora prepared to land it.

"I can only hope it goes well, Pit", Palutena replied with a sigh. "I am contending with many years of an ingrained dislike for humankind; it won't be easy to convince her to help them".

The Chariot landed at the foot of the Temple, partly obstructing the path of the city's thoroughfare. Angels shied away from the vehicle and its steeds as Phos and Lux snorted impetuously, tossing their great heads and flaring their nostrils. Phosphora stepped down first, moving quickly to the beasts and resting calming hands upon their snouts. Pittoo and then Viridi stepped down from the chariot in her wake, the angel positioning himself just behind her shoulder as she approached the steps that led up to where Palutena and Pit waited. Angels began to gather in the streets, both to gaze at (from a safe distance) the splendour of the Lightning Chariot and its steeds as well as the visitation of the Goddess of Nature, muttering amongst themselves what the purpose and implications of that visit could be.

"Viridi, Pittoo; it's a pleasure to see you", Palutena said, spreading her arms in a gesture of welcome as she smiled warmly.

Pit charged forwards to embrace his brother, almost bowling them both back down the steps. "Pittoo!"

"Are you trying to kill me?" the angel demanded as Pit grabbed him in a tight hug, earning himself a chuckle from Palutena.

"We haven't seen you in quite a while, Pittoo", the Goddess said, giving a pause after she spoke. "You don't mind us calling you that, do you?"

Pittoo gave a weary sigh as he managed to extricate himself from his brother. "Whatever. I guess I'm used to it by now".

"I knew it would stick", Pit said confidently as he granted his brother some room to breathe.

"Yes. Right", Pittoo muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Viridi, I'm glad you came", Palutena said to her fellow Goddess. "I hope our talks will prove fruitful".

She belatedly realised her choice of words as both Pittoo and Viridi broke into smiles. She gave a chuckle, relieved that at least for the moment, the atmosphere between them was cordial. Pit looked between the three of them, confused.

"That all depends on exactly what you're planning on having me do", Viridi said with an equally polite expression. "Shall we get to it, then?"

"You would not like a tour of the city first?" Palutena offered. "Or perhaps take a moment to refresh yourself after the journey here?"

Viridi shrugged. "You'll forgive me if I'm not too interested", she said. "And our journey took all of a few seconds", she added, gesturing to the Lightning Chariot.

"Are you sure? Well then, let's go inside", Palutena said to the Goddess.

"Come on", Viridi said to Pittoo, following after Palutena. The Goddess turned when she heard this however.

"Viridi, I had thought it best if you and I discuss this alone…"

"I'd prefer to have an advocate with me", Viridi said politely, "which would have been Phosphora, but it appears she needs to remain with the Chariot to ensure Phos and Lux don't lash out at your citizens. Pittoo will suffice in her place".

Palutena wrinkled her brow in thought for a long moment. "Alright, I don't see why not".

Pit, who had been waving down at Phosphora, turned at his Goddess' words. "Wait, I thought it was going to be a private meeting! Why does Pittoo get to go?"

"I'm clearly more suitable for these things than you are", Pittoo said casually. "Don't think too hard about it".

"Lady Palutena", Pit whined. "I can be helpful too; after all I have seen Overworld first hand".

"Yes, alright", the Goddess sighed, already turning away. "Come along, then".

Pit pumped his fist into the air and nudged his brother on the shoulder; Pittoo repaid him by sticking his foot between Pit's stride and sending him stumbling to the ground.

"Hey!" the angel cried out as Pittoo smirked, walking away and following after Viridi. Pit scrambled to his feet and ran to catch up with them as they entered the Temple.

* * *

"You know about the Underworld's presence of Overworld, don't you?" Pittoo asked with an expectant tone.

They were seated in a room adjacent to the throne room, a rounded table positioned between them with the respective Goddesses and angels sitting opposite one another. Palutena had had the Reflecting Pool removed from the throne room for the moment and it sat peaceably at the centre of their circle, its contents rippling lightly with the movements of those present against the table.

"We are aware of it", Palutena answered him. "I'm not sure of the Underworld's numbers yet, but I do know that there are remnants spread far and wide across Overworld. It has been difficult to keep track of their movements".

Pit opened his mouth once more to add to the discussion, but this time it was Viridi who interrupted him. He closed his mouth again with a slight huff; he had been trying to get a good word in ever since the discussion had begun, feeling a little left out.

"Palutena, you'll forgive me if I ask you to get to the point of all this. I'm certain you didn't request my presence here just to discuss something we've both been dealing reasonably well with since the war's end. The Underworld is too weak to be of such importance right now. Besides", she said, "Overworld is my domain and so primarily my concern. I'll deal with Hades' spawn".

"You're right", Palutena admitted. "What I wanted to discuss with you is how I need your help in aiding the restoration of the civilization of humankind".

"You want me to help you help the humans", Viridi asked in tone that questioned Palutena's good sense. "Obviously I didn't make my feelings towards them clear enough".

"Viridi, Overworld is, as you yourself stated, your domain, and they are part of that. I do not ask you to love them, only to tolerate them, fairly".

"Must we go through this again?" Viridi said. "I find it difficult to tolerate a species so obsessed with the wanton destruction of my lands".

"I understand that", Palutena said in earnest, "and I will try my utmost to try and instil within them a more thorough respect for their surroundings, but –"

"Palutena, I am far older than you and since the day your Time began have watched you do nothing of the sort. The humans are if anything _more _destructive".

"Viridi, famine is spreading across Overworld. I am not asking much of you, only to help me –"

"Help humans", Viridi finished as she kept her expression politely neutral.

"You're being unfair, Lady Viridi", Pit blurted out suddenly. "Would you really stand by and watch the humans suffer when you could easily help them?"

Viridi turned to him. "I have done just that for longer than you could imagine. After all that they have done to Overworld to selfishly further themselves, they do not deserve my help".

"But – " Pit began, but Palutena laid her hand upon his arm and he fell quiet.

"Viridi", she said, "if you would do this, to aid me this once, I would be in your debt".

Viridi shrugged. "It doesn't matter; you can't sway me in this".

But of course, Palutena would try anyway. She had to, for she could not stand by to see her charges suffer. "Surely there must be some way to – "

"The Goddess Viridi, one of the first daughters of the Father", Pittoo suddenly interrupted, speaking in a low, careful tone. "She was painted in the image of a child but yet still beholds the heart of a mother. Nature is her firstborn, and will hold her dearest love till the end of Time. Upon her lands do we mere mortals dwell, our existence permitted only by her tolerance. For selfishness and destruction are ingrained upon the hearts of Man, and in our ceaseless journey to acquire knowledge surely we have brought the earth to harm, but the Goddess grants us another day. As Man aspires to walk the path of greatness, the fair Goddess must watch her firstborn suffer, but yet she grants us another day. Oh, but we should be ever thankful and worship the Goddess for her mercy, for only she knows what stays her great and mighty hand".

Silence dwelt in the wake of Pittoo's recitation, Palutena and Pit having turned to him with both surprise and awe upon their respective features. Only Viridi did not turn to face him, and neither did he her; instead his eyes seemed to be pointed towards the golden bowl of the Reflecting Pool.

"What is your point?" Viridi asked quietly, breaking the silence at long last.

"If you do not aid humankind, they will only seek other methods through which to restore themselves. They will pull down the forests to make tools of war and ravage the lands as they fight amongst themselves for what little food is available. They will soil the streams and rivers and pollute the earth".

"And if I help them, will they still not do the same thing in time? Humans are greedy and conniving, war is a pastime for them".

"The gods are not the same?" Pittoo asked. "The war that led us here in the first place is a product of Hades' greed for power; the gods fight amongst themselves and shatter the world of humankind time and again".

"Then why should I help them if such a cycle exists?"

"They respect you, Viridi, but only out of fear. They must be taught to understand what you are and what you represent".

"It doesn't matter, Pittoo", she said, finally turning to him. "No matter what you attempt to do, they will still – "

"This is the perfect time to effect a change", he said as he met her gaze, "otherwise the cycle will only continue. Humankind will ravage Overworld in an attempt to restore itself and you will seek your vengeance in return. Palutena, as the guardian of Man, will be forced to stop you and so you will both be at war yet again. Phosphora and Pit will meet each other on the battlefield and refuse to fight each other, and I will not fight my brother again, not even at your command, Viridi.

"So while our armies stare at each other confused and held back by our feelings, the Underworld will once again amass its strength and Hades will inflict _his _ army upon Overworld. He will once again ravage your domain to further his own goals and we will be forced to fend him off, yet again. And as we war with each other, Overworld will be forced to bear new scars; all our fighting will succeed in doing is destroying it more thoroughly than humankind ever could. If we were to win, then we would be once again left at the beginning of the cycle, and if we were to lose then Hades would have his way with your domain and you would never recognise it again. You have a chance to change this, Viridi, here and now".

She looked at him, long and hard. He held her eyes unblinkingly. Palutena and Pit remained in utter silence, neither daring to stir the air with a single breath. Eventually, Viridi's gaze slid away from the angel; she glanced briefly at Palutena as she stood to her feet.

"Fine", she said shortly. "I'll help you".

Viridi didn't look at Pittoo again as she strode from the room. Skyworld's Goddess remembered to breathe again when she left; she regarded Pittoo with an expression that he couldn't quite decipher, though unlike the one his brother wore, powerful curiosity sparked within Palutena's eyes.

"What?" Pittoo barked eventually, shaking them from their stupor.

Pit shook his head in awe and disbelief. "Pittoo, I can't believe you just spoke to a Goddess like that".

"I prefer not to waste time mincing my words", he said in reply.

"You even called her by her name", Pit said. "I thought she was going to, you know, smote you or something".

Pittoo favoured his brother with a withering look. "Smote me? Please stop talking, Pit".

"What?" Pit said defensively. "She looked pretty mad at you".

"You don't know her like I do", Pittoo said. A moment later, when he saw Palutena's eyes grow, he wished he had chosen different words. Pit, thankfully, appeared to remain oblivious to the revelation his Goddess had seemingly come to.

"If you say so", Pit said with a shrug. "Oh, and thanks for saying you wouldn't want to fight me again. You…you did mean that, right?"

"Sadly, yes. You're an insufferable pain in the neck, but you're my flesh and blood. Literally".

Pit easily laughed off his brother's gibe, half-turning to the Goddess when he spoke. "I guess we're done here now, Lady Palutena? Pittoo, care for a race around the city? I bet I'm the better flyer".

"Sure, let's race", Pittoo said dryly. "I'll just borrow the Lightning Chariot if you're game".

"Alright – hey, wait", Pit amended as he stood to his feet.

Palutena spoke then as Pittoo smirked, pushing back his seat and making to stand. "Just a second, Pittoo", she said. "Pit, I'd like to talk with him for moment, if you wouldn't mind".

"Oh, okay", said the angel. He turned to his brother. "I'll be waiting for you outside, don't chicken out on me!"

"I wouldn't dream of it", Pittoo replied as he watched his brother leave the room before turning back to face the Goddess. She rested her hands atop each other, leaning against the table and regarding him with a small – and knowing – smile.

"So, how have you been?" she asked. "I admit I was a little surprised when you decided against staying in Skyworld".

"I've been fine", he said simply. "And I just didn't really want to be around Pit every waking moment; I don't have the same degree of tolerance as you".

"I'm sure you would have developed the patience for him in time", Palutena said. "He did miss you quite a bit".

Pittoo gave a short pause before he gave her a shrug. "That's just how I felt", he said.

"It's alright, I am not trying to make you feel guilty, Pittoo. In fact, it may be that your decision to live with Viridi and Phosphora had its own merits".

"I have no idea what you're talking about".

Palutena smiled. "Are you sure? Your time in Viridi's abode has been a simple, trivial affair?"

"Nothing noteworthy to report", Pittoo said.

"Aside from your wings, of course".

"Of course".

Palutena had learned through Phosphora and Pit that Pittoo had gained his wings. A week after the Goddess and the angel had repaired their relationship, Pit had come running to her one morning inexplicably knowing that Pittoo's wings had grown too. He had attributed this knowledge to his gut instinct and a sensation that rippled through his own wings; Phosphora had not a day later been able to confirm this news, though she did not truthfully divulge what had occurred in the time between Pittoo learning of Pit's wings and Viridi finally allowing him to go to the Rewind Spring. Neither did she later divulge to them the nature of Viridi's and Pittoo's relationship after he had returned from wandering across Overworld. Pittoo had been adamant that she keep their relationship a secret, a request that Viridi had then made concrete by turning it into a direct command. Phosphora had almost let it slip to Pit on numerous occasions in the days that followed.

"Pittoo, I do think you're being the slightest bit untruthful".

"I disagree".

"Well, perhaps I read you both incorrectly then", Palutena said with a musing tone, her eyes glittering.

"That's unfortunate", he replied. "So, if you don't mind – "

"There is something between you and Viridi, isn't there?"

Pittoo didn't answer for a long moment, and Palutena watched his expression slowly shift from carefully neutral to resigned. Even still, he attempted to keep up the charade.

"I don't know what you – "

"The Viridi of several months ago would never have let you speak to her like that".

"We're friends", Pittoo began.

"She never would have looked at you like that, either", Palutena spoke over him. "Or let you use her name".

"I used your name too".

"And we both know the difference".

Pittoo threw up his hands in surrender, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. "Fine. I give up".

Palutena smiled warmly at him, watching him huff and fold his arms, unable to meet her eyes as the slightest hue of pink tinged his cheeks. She would not have imagined that Pittoo would be the one to sway Viridi's thoughts, and the manner in which he had spoken suggested that it was not improvisation but rather something that he had perhaps been considering for a while now. She herself had inwardly expected the Goddess' continued refusals and rebuttals; she had quickly been running short of ideas of how to convince her otherwise.

"I am happy for you", she told him sincerely. "For both of you".

Pittoo shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat before he looked up and met her eyes. "I'm…I'm happy too", he said.

"I would assume that this means you will be staying with Viridi from now on".

He nodded. "I'll make more of an effort to visit", he said.

"Pit would like that", she said. "I wouldn't mind either; you're always welcome here, Pittoo".

"Thanks", he said and this time when he stood to his feet she didn't stop him; she didn't say anything until he was almost out of the room.

"And I hope you two are behaving yourselves!"

Which earned her the slamming of the door as Pittoo promptly left. Palutena gave a small chuckle, falling silently shortly afterward and gazing at the Reflecting Pool. Pit had found Phosphora and Pittoo Viridi, but she had had to learn what it meant to let go. Where they had no doubt struggled with the idea of becoming closer to each other, she had fought against the reality of being apart from the one she held dear. It was almost painful to think of the cruelty of that contrast.

After a moment, she slowly pulled the golden bowl towards her. There was something she had begun to do lately, a practice that part of her disapproved of but her lonely heart would steer her towards daily without fail. Sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear, she gazed into the depths of the Reflecting Pool, watching her reflection gradually shift and meld into the dark terrain of the Underworld. There, she turned her ethereal eyes to the countless sparkling streams of souls stitched across the fading orange sky, looking and listening for the star that was her sister.

* * *

He found her standing on one of the islets that floated aimlessly nearby the crystal statue of Palutena at the peak of her Temple. His wings fluttered gently as he landed, flattening against his back as he approached her. He moved to her side, looking across to see that she wore a contemplative expression.

"Are you still angry with me?" he asked softly.

She shook her head minutely. "I wasn't angry with you in the first place".

He lifted his brow. "You stormed out as though you were".

She smiled slightly, sadly. "At myself, not you".

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of what you told me", she said. "I didn't want to hear it, but you made me listen. You made me understand what some part of me has been trying to tell myself for longer than I can remember".

She turned to look at him. "I knew you would be the one to convince me".

"Is that why you insisted I come along?" he said, for he had been reluctant to do so until Viridi practically dragged him onto the Chariot. "You knew I would change your mind?"

"I didn't plan it that way", she answered to his tone. "I just…part of me just knew that I would listen to you. That you would tell me what I needed to hear".

She closed the distance between them, slowly sliding her left arm around his waist and resting her head against his shoulder. He embraced her similarly and held her against him, resting his cheek upon her hair.

"Where did you get those words from?" she asked. He knew what she was referring to.

"Do you remember that human account of the history of the gods I read to you?"

She didn't answer for a long moment. "Figures", she said. "I should punish you for lying to me".

He smirked. "Your reaction was priceless".

"Well, you're never going to get another one like that from me", she told him. "You're going to teach me to read".

"Of course, Mistress", he answered cheekily, squirming as she poked him the ribs afterwards.

They fell silent, looking out over the city from their vantage point. However, they had unwittingly drawn a good amount of attention to themselves in the process. Pittoo looked to see angels in the streets below gazing up at them, hands pointing in their direction as they whispered excitedly to those around them. Some had even taken to the air and tried to pass off their furtive, investigating gazes as they flew passed as innocent glances. Pittoo shifted his gaze and looked to where Phosphora had landed the Lightning Chariot, finding her in the company of Pit who had followed the eyes of Skyworld's citizens and was staring up at them with his eyes wide and his mouth agape. Pittoo suddenly felt an uncomfortable heat sweeping through him.

"Viridi, perhaps this isn't the best place to be right now". He swallowed. "_Everyone _is looking at us".

When she spoke, however, Pittoo came to forget his embarrassment,

"Let them look", she said simply. "I am tired of having to prove myself, Pittoo".

"What do you mean?"

"In the time of the old pantheon, I had to prove myself to my fellow gods, prove that just because I possessed a form so young did not mean I was to be trifled with. I had to prove that I was worthy of the respect even of those who came after me. I had to prove to the humans that I was not to be taken lightly, that if they overstepped their boundaries there _would _be consequences.

"When the Chaos Kin enslaved Palutena and I offered Pit my help to rescue her I had to prove to him that my intentions were good, that I could be trusted. I had to prove that I was more than just a single-mindedly vengeful Goddess. Now, I have to prove to Palutena that I can be trusted to help and not change my mind at the slightest provocation and harm the humans. I have to prove to _myself_ that I am more than that, that I can hold true to my word.

"But you, Pittoo?" she said, lifting her arm and softly laying her hand upon his chest. "I don't have to prove anything to you. With you I can just be me. Viridi. And that's all I've ever wanted, someone who can look beyond the fact that I'm a Goddess and beyond my appearance as a child and see me for who I am".

Pittoo was appropriately speechless. "Viridi…I…I'm – "

"Why do you think I let you use my name?" she asked him. "I don't think of myself as being above you; I don't think that you're beneath me. I can look you in the eye, Pittoo, literally and otherwise. I don't think you understand how much that means to me, not yet. I've had to look _up_ my entire life, but then you came along…and here we are".

Pittoo was at an utter loss for words. He opened his mouth, but all that he could squeeze past his lips was her name. "Viridi…"

She lifted her head and turned to look at him. "You look like you're struggling there. Here, let me help".

Her hand moved from his chest to his cheek and turned his lips towards hers. They kissed softly and slowly, the gesture full of meaning. Pittoo felt euphoria rushing through his veins as he held her against him, enjoying the warmth and pressure of her body and relishing the taste of her kiss. When they eventually parted, he was out of breath, almost panting as though he had just flown the race Pit had earlier challenged him to. Viridi looked and laughed at his expression, lightly patting his chest.

"Try not to faint on me, Pittoo. That would be embarrassing".

"I'd appreciate a warning before you kiss me like that", he returned.

She rested her head at his shoulder again, speaking softly. "Just like the warning you gave me the first time?"

"Point taken".

"Oh, that reminds me", she said after a brief silence, "I never asked if you minded me calling you 'Pittoo'".

"It's a little late now", he laughed. "You drummed it into me as stubbornly as I called you by your name. Why, did you have something different in mind?"

She paused in thought for a moment before giving a small shake of her head. "Your name sounds silly enough".

"I appreciate your sincere honesty", he intoned plainly.

She patted him on the chest. "You'll get used to it, Pitty".

The streets of Skyworld flinched at his subsequent roar of outrage.

* * *

**A/N: And there we have it. Voila. **

**Well, this was certainly interesting to explore, I know it isn't the conventional Pit/Viridi pairing, but I like to try and write things other people haven't really attempted yet. So this would be called what, DarkPiridi? Lord, that sounds silly. Anyway, here it is. What do you think? Did I fail miserably? Is Pit/Viridi really the only Viridi pairing that makes sense? I don't necessarily favour one over the other; I think Piridi is a more...romantically awkward and lovey-dovey kind of thing whereas DarkPiridi (oh gawd) is a more confident and openly passionate relationship. Both have their merits.**

**That being said, this is likely to be the last KI fanfic I write. I've covered pretty much everything I've wanted to explore for this fandom except a Magnus/Gaol fic, for which I've no idea how to go about. There are other things I want to focus on now. So, happy holidays to all, thank you for all your reviews/favourites/follows and I hope you've enjoyed my work. Toodles : )  
**


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